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visuospatial ability. In part, some deficits in affective
prosody may be due to more elemental dysfunction in complex
auditory analysis. In contrast to nonverbal affective
signals, the role of the right hemisphere in processing
verbal emotional signals remains unclear. At present, some
argue that an emotional semantic network is widely
distributed between the hemispheres whereas other argue that
the RH may be dominant for emotional semantics.
Expression of emotion
The global right hemisphere view of emotion has also
been supported by investigations of deficits in expression
of emotion. Overall facial expressivity of emotions has
been evaluated in RHD, LHD, and NH controls. Some authors
have reported that RHD patients were less spontaneously
expressive than LHD and NH controls (Blonder, et al., 1991;
Borod, Koff, Lorch, & Nicholas, 1985; Borod, Koff, Perlman-
Lorch, & Nicholas, 1988; Buck & Duffy, 1980) However,
Weddell, Miller, and Trevartht_n (1990) found LHD and RHD
patients who had tumors were equally impaired and less
expressive than NHD controls. When excisions occurred or
tumor and CVA patients were combined, RHD and LHD patients
did not significantly differ from controls (Kolb & Milner,
1981; Mammacuri, et al. 1988). Additionally, re --nt
evidence exists from studies using a carefully delineated
facial scoring system which contradicts the findings that
RHD patients are less facially expressive. For example, no