Lateralisation of Emotion as a Function

of Left and Right Visual Fields

Report by: Kishendri Moodley

Lab 124B (Demonstrator: Christina Sutherland)

13/05/2021
 Abstract

This study aimed to investigate which hemisphere is specialised for the perception of

emotion. It was hypothesised participants would judge chimeric faces with the smile

presented in the left visual field as happier more often than with the smile presented in the

right visual field. Twenty-four participants (psychology students) were shown pairs of

chimeric faces, one with a smile in the right visual field and one with a smile in left visual

field. Participants were asked to select which face looked happier; they had 2 practice trials

before they completed 28 test trials. The measured variable was the percentage of chimeric

faces chosen by participants depending on the visual field that the smile was presented in.

The mean percentage of chimeric faces with a smile in the left visual field chosen as happier

was 75.54% whereas for the right visual field it was 24.45%. This supported the hypothesis

as chimeric faces with the smile in the left visual field had a higher mean percentage of being

chosen as happier. This showed that visual information is best perceived in the left visual

field and due to cross-sensory pathways, that the right hemisphere specialises in the

perception of emotion.
Localisation of function refers to different regions of the brain being responsible for different

functions (Department of Psychology, 2021). Research into localisation of function looks at

damage to the brain and the effect it has on cognitive function and behaviour (Gleitman, H.,

Gross, J., Reisberg, D., 2010). The brain has four lobes, the occipital, temporal, parietal, and

frontal lobe. Each lobe controls different behaviours, for example, the occipital lobe is better

at visual processing whilst the parietal lobe is better at processing spatial information

(Colombo, 2021). The brain can be separated into the left and right cerebral hemisphere. As

the brain is asymmetric the left and right hemispheres are non-identical and have asymmetric

functions (Department of Psychology, 2021). Localisation of different functions in each

hemisphere is referred to as lateralisation of function (Gleitman et al, 2010). In the left

hemisphere, the more dominant functions are language skills and free movement during

speech, whilst the right hemisphere has specialised functions such as visual, spatial, and

emotional processing, an example of this is facial recognition (Department of Psychology,

2021).

Although specific functions are dominant in different hemispheres, both hemispheres

still communicate and work together. Communication is carried out mainly by the corpus

callosum (Gleitman et al, 2010). Corpus callosum is made of white myelinated nerve fibres

bundled together (Passer & Smith, 2019). As the corpus callosum provides communication

between the two hemispheres it was thought that removing the corpus callosum would help to

reduce the severity of seizures for those with epilepsy as it would prevent the seizure from

affecting the other hemisphere (Colombo, 2021). Patients with the corpus callosum removed

are referred to as ‘split-brain’ patients (Passer & Smith, 2019).

Functions specific to each hemisphere are being studied using neuroimaging

techniques including MRIs, CATs, and PETs. These techniques allow the levels of activity in

specific regions of the brain to be seen and measured (Department of Psychology, 2021).
 There are three different cross-sensory pathways, auditory, touch and visual

(Department of Psychology, 2021). A cross-sensory pathway refers to the information from

the right or left sensory field crossing over in the brain to the opposite hemisphere (Passer &

Smith, 2019). In the visual cross-sensory pathway light waves from the right visual field are

absorbed through the left side of both retinas (Colombo, 2021). Whereas light waves from the

left visual field are absorbed through the right side of both retinas. This information is carried

by optic nerves to both hemispheres. Nasal optic nerves then cross over at the optic chiasma

(Gleitman et al, 2010). This results in visual information from the right visual field being

received in the left hemisphere, whilst visual information from the left visual field is received

in the right hemisphere.

In one study ‘split brain’ patients were sat in front of a screen with their hands hidden

(Sperry, 1982, cited in Passer & Smith, 2019). An object was shown in either the right or left

visual field. If the object was shown in the left visual field the participant would pick it up

with their left hand but would not be able to verbally express what the object is (Sperry,

1982, cited in Passer & Smith, 2019). This is due to crossing over and the corpus callosum

being absent, inhibiting communication between hemispheres (Passer & Smith, 2019). Since

the object is in the right hemisphere the participant recognises the object as the right

hemisphere dominantly processes visual information (Department of Psychology, 2021). The

participant can pick up the object with their left hand as touch is another cross-sensory

system and therefore the left hand is controlled by the right hemisphere (Passer & Smith,

2019). If the object was in the right visual field the participant could verbally express what

the object was and could also pick it up with their right hand as the information is processed

in the left hemisphere which predominantly controls language (Sperry, 1982, cited in Passer

& Smith, 2019). Therefore, it is indicated that of the two hemispheres language is controlled

by the left hemisphere and that vision has a cross-sensory pathway.

facial recognition being localised in one hemisphere (Department of Psychology, 2021). This

is important as understanding and having the ability to recognise facial expressions is needed

for everyday social interaction. Ley and Bryden (1979) conducted a study aimed at

investigating emotional lateralisation and the effect of using a larger range of emotional

stimuli than previous studies. They hypothesised that the results would support older studies

that concluded, perception of emotion correlates with the left visual field and is localised in

the right hemisphere (Ley and Bryden, 1979). Ley and Bryden (1979) used cartoon line

drawings of 5 different males each with 5 different emotional expressions (25 drawings).

Expressions ranged from extremely positive to extremely negative. Two sets of the 25

individual faces were used as stimuli, with another 25 used as comparison faces (Ley and

Bryden, 1979). In each trial, a stimuli card would flash in the participants left or right visual

field. Following this, a comparison face was flashed at the fixation point (Ley and Bryden,

1979). Participants were then asked if the two characters emotional expressions matched

(Laboratory Notes: Psychology 111, 2021). 50% of trials had the same emotion shown whilst

the other 50% had different emotions. Ley and Bryden (1979) found that the left visual field

had a higher proportion of correct matches than faces flashed in the right visual field

especially when the emotion was extremely negative. This supported the hypothesis as the

results correlated with previous studies which found that lateralisation of emotion was

perceived better in the left visual field (Ley and Bryden, 1979). Therefore, Ley and Bryden

(1979) concluded that perception of emotion was a dominant function in the right

hemisphere.

Heller and Levy (1981) conducted a study demonstrating the lateralisation of emotion.

They aimed to investigate lateralisation of emotion in left and right-handed people (Heller

and Levy, 1981). Chimeric faces are two photos combined to make one. In this experiment,
each poser had a photo smiling and one non-smiling (Laboratory Notes: Psychology 111,

2021). These pictures were combined to create a photo where half of the face was smiling,

and half was not. Two chimeric faces were made for each poser one with the smiling on the

left side and one with smiling on the right side (Heller and Levy, 1981). These photos were

printed in normal and mirrored reversed orientation (Heller and Levy, 1981). In this

experiment participants (half left-handed and half right-handed) were shown a series of

chimeric faces. In each trial, one pair of chimeric faces were shown using a tachistoscope,

and participants chose which face looked happier (Laboratory Notes: Psychology 111, 2021).

The mean proportion of trials where participants judged faces with the smile in the left visual

field as happier was 0.598 for right-handed participants (Heller and Levy, 1981). This

indicated that the left visual field and lateralisation of emotion correlate with being a

specialised function of the right hemisphere. For left-handers, the proportion judged as

happier with a smile in the left visual field was 0.533 (Heller and Levy, 1981). There was not

a large difference therefore, Heller and Levy (1981) concluded that the results of left-handers

did not indicate a specialisation of emotion perception in the right hemisphere, however,

right-handers can discriminate facial emotion in the left visual field as emotional perception

is specialised in the right hemisphere (Heller and Levy, 1981).

The study in this report investigates lateralisation of emotion. This study aims to

investigate which hemisphere is specialised for the perception of emotion. To investigate this

an experiment was conducted in which all participants were shown a pair of chimeric faces,

in total there were 28 chimeric faces participants were asked to choose the happiest face.

Participants were given two practice trials before completing the 28 test trials. It was

hypothesised for this experiment that participants would judge chimeric faces with the smile

presented in the left visual field as happier more often than chimeric faces with the smile

presented in the right visual field.

Participants

In this experiment, 23 psychology students at the University of Otago were recruited to be

participants as part of their course requirement. Nineteen were female and four were male,

ranging from 17 – 24 years old.

Materials

Equipment used included desktop computers in the laboratory which presented the stimuli

and had pre-loaded that was used to calculate results. Stimuli used were chimeric faces.

These chimeric faces were made by taking two pictures for each of the posers ensuring the

poser has a smile in one and non-smile in the other. Photos were cut in half and remade so

that one face had a smile on the left and the other had a smile on the right (Department of

Psychology, 2021). There were 14 pairs of chimeric faces with 7 posers which were shown

twice making 28 experimental trials

Procedure

The manipulated variable in this experiment was the photos of chimeric faces. This

experiment was within the design as all participants experienced all levels of the manipulated

variable. Participants were instructed to sit at a desktop in the room and fill out their

demographics. Once participants had clicked start, a screen appeared explaining the

experiment and how chimeric faces were made. Participants were given two practice trials

and 28 experimental trials to complete. Each trial had two chimeric faces presented on the

screen. One chimeric face had a smile in the left visual field whilst the other had the smile in

the right visual field. The layout of these two images had one chimeric face above the other
(one on top and one on the bottom). Each pair of chimeric faces were shown on the screen

twice so that each face was presented above the other, this was to control for location on the

screen. Participants were instructed to click which face looked happier before pressing enter

or clicking again to submit their answer. When all participants had completed the experiment,

the results were calculated using preloaded software.

Results

The measured variable for this experiment was the percentage of chimeric faces chosen by

participants depending on the visual field that the smile was presented in. Results were

calculated using pre-loaded software. Each participant’s results were calculated before they

were then averaged across all participants.

Figure 1.

Mean Percentage of Chimeric Faces Chosen as Happier as a Function of Visual Field of Smile
presentation.

80
Mean Percentage of Chimeric Faces

70

60
Chosen as Happier

50

40

30

20

10

0
Left Visual Field Right Visual Field
Visual Field of Smile Presentation

As shown in Figure 1. chimeric faces with smiles in the left visual field are happier in some

trials, however, participants had also chosen chimeric faces in the right visual field as happier

in other trials. The mean percentage of chimeric faces chosen as happier when smile
presentation was in the left visual field was 75.54% whilst the percentage of chimeric faces

chosen as happier when smile presentation was in the right visual filed was 24.45%.

Discussion

From this experiment, it was found that there was a significant difference between the mean

percentages of chimeric faces chosen as happier when the smile was in the left visual field vs

when the smile was in the right visual field. The left visual field had a much higher mean

percentage in comparison to the right visual field, however, there were still some trials in

which the right visual field was chosen instead of the left. These results support the

hypothesis as chimeric faces with the smile in the left visual field were chosen more often

than when chimeric faces had the smile in the right visual field. Furthermore, this suggests

the perception of emotional expression is a dominant function in the right hemisphere. This is

because if a smile in the left visual field appeared to be happier even though the smile in both

hemispheres were the same, a higher level of perception is indicated. Therefore, due to the

visual cross-sensory system, the processing of this information will occur in the right

hemisphere indicating that emotional perception is a localised function of the right

hemisphere.

Although both chimeric faces had the same smile when the smile was in the left visual

field emotional perception was processed the most. The presentation of chimeric faces and

the question of which face looks happier is similar to the Heller and Levy (1981) study.

Results in this study and the Heller and Levy (1981) study are similar as both indicated that

the left visual field had the highest proportion of trials chosen as happier, so the right

hemisphere, therefore, has superiority of emotional perception over the left hemisphere. This

result was also similar to the Ley and Bryden (1979) study as in their study, faces projected in

the left visual field were matched and recognised at a higher proportion to those presented in
the right visual field. Therefore, findings from the present study also correlated with the Ley

and Bryden (1979) study showing that perception of emotion is a dominant function in the

right hemisphere. The consistent findings of Ley and Bryden (1979), Heller and Levy (1981)

and this study has therefore shown that in the general field of localisation of function there is

an asymmetric function of the two hemispheres in which lateralisation of emotion is

specialised in the right hemisphere.

One limitation of this experiment is the time participants were given to look at each

image. This experiment had no time limit on each trial, so participants could look at the two

chimeric faces for as long as they wanted. In both studies previously mentioned, Ley and

Bryden (1979) and Heller and Levy (1981) limits were set for the period of time the stimuli

were shown. These studies had time limits for each trial at no more than 150 msec, whereas

participants in this study were able to look at the stimuli with no restriction (Heller and Levy,

1981) (Ley and Bryden, 1979). This could have affected the results as the longer the

participant looks at the stimuli the longer, they have to contemplate and compare both images

therefore not reflecting the immediate recognition of emotional expressions. A possible

solution is to implement a time limit thus shortening the time participants are exposed to

stimuli preventing them from overanalysing the stimuli. It would be best to use a short time

period similar to that of the previously mentioned studies to ensure the results are reflecting

the initial perception of participants. This time limit could be implemented by presenting the

chimeric faces tachistoscopically like the Heller and Levy (1981) did so that it flashes quickly

(Laboratory Notes: Psychology 111, 2021).

Another limitation is that participants were not equally selected so that half were left-

handed, and half were right-handed. In the Heller and Levy (1981) study left-handers had a

lower proportion of left visual field faces chosen as happier. As a result, Heller and Levy

(1981) concluded that specialisation of emotion in the right hemisphere for left-handed
people was not indicated. As this was the result of an experiment with equal numbers of left

and right-handedness it is possible the results from this experiment are not an accurate

reflection as depending on the ratio of right to left-handers the mean percentage of chimeric

faces with smiles in the left visual field may be lower. To overcome this limitation the

experiment could be conducted by organising a group of participants with an equal number of

left- and right-handed psychology students.

Future research into this field could involve further investigation into what different

forms of sensing emotion might indicate about the lateralisation of emotion. In this study

vision was used to perceive the emotion expressed on chimeric faces, this is important for

situations such as reading body language; however, the perception of emotion may differ if

emotion is perceived through an auditory cross-sensory pathway. For example, sounds of

people speaking in different tones such as frustrated or scared may be perceived differently

depending on which sensory field it is heard in due to hemispheric asymmetry.

An implication of this study is that perception of emotion is lateralised in the right

hemisphere. Emotional expression is best perceived in the left visual field as vision is a cross-

sensory system. Information from the left visual field is processed in the right hemisphere

which specialises in the perception of emotion. This implies that for social interactions in

which reading facial expressions is important, the emotion expressed on someone’s face may

be better perceived if they were in the left visual field of others (Gleitman et al, 2010). An

application can therefore be that for businesses promoting a product as being friendly, it is

more advantageous to strategically place the friendly happy person in the left visual field

rather than the right visual field to ensure the full effect of the advertisement is perceived.

Overall, this study has shown that lateralisation of emotion is specialised in the right

hemisphere of the brain. From the present experiment, this is known as visual information
from the left visual field was better perceived than the right visual hemisphere indicating that

lateralisation of emotion occurs in the right hemisphere (cross-sensory pathways). Findings

from this study correlate with the theory of lateralisation of emotion and is consistent with

previously conducted studies by Bryden and Ley (1979) and Heller and Levy (1981).
 References

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Lecture presented in Psychology 111, University of Otago

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Lecture presented in Psychology 111, University of Otago

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