The right hemisphere is much more involved in emotions and bodily experience than the left hemisphere
The affinity of the right hemisphere with emotions and the bodily experience of them is reflected in a range of functional asymmetries. Part of the right frontal pole of the brain, the so-called orbitofrontal cortex of the right hemisphere, is essential to emotional understanding and regulation. It is also where the emotional significance of events is consciously appreciated. The right hemisphere is in general more intimately connected with the limbic system than the left hemisphere. The right frontal pole also regulates the HPA axis. As a consequence it is also the right frontotemporal cortex that exerts inhibitory control over emotional arousal. Although there has been much debate about the particular emotional timbre of each hemisphere (of which more shortly), there is evidence that in all forms of emotional perception, regardless of the type of emotion, and in most forms of expression, the right hemisphere is dominant.
References
- Mcgilchrist, Iain. (2010). The Master and His Emissary Chapter 2 What Do the Hemispheres Do (Epub p. 118). London, UK: Yale University Press.
Metadata
Type:🔴 Tags: Biology / Neuroscience / Neuropsychology Status:☀️