Depressed Patients Have Atypical Hemispace Biases in the Perception of Emotional Chimeric Faces

The perception of chimeric faces was studied in depressed patients in light of the presumed right-hemisphere mediation of this function and evidence for right-hemisphere disorganization in major depression. Subjects were 27 unipolar depressive (Research Diagnostic Criteria) and 29 normal control right-handed male adults. Subjects performed a perception task that requires an emotional judgment about chimeric faces during free-field viewing and provides an index of hemispace bias (Levy, Heller, Banich, & Burton, 1983b). Although both groups showed a significant left-hemispace bias, depressives were significantly less lateralized than controls. Levy et al. (1983a) have speculated that this left-hemispace bias reflects the combined influence of right-hemisphere specialization and hemispheric differences in cortical activation. We discuss our findings in light of evidence for asymmetrical cortical control of autonomic arousal and for autonomic defects in depressed patients.