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It is important to consider the constraints that are
placed on evaluating emotional experience in patients with
focal lesions. For example, left hemisphere damaged
patients often have difficulty with language, which may
affect their verbal report data. To minimize this problem
in the present study, severely aphasic patients would not be
used and only verbal report measures with simple language
were used. Also, right hemisphere damaged patients often
have difficulties with visual attention, neglect, and
vigilance. Consequently, adequate attention to the task at
hand must be insured among RHD patients.
To study emotional experience, it is important to
measure all three response systems; verbal report, overt
behaviors, and physiological indices. One way to better
understand the neuropsychology of emotional experience is to
use paradigms which are highly sensitive to emotional
responding. The present study focused on an anticipation
paradigm (Reiman et al., 1989) designed to investigate
verbal report, heart rate, skin conductance, and facial
responses associated with emotion. In order to examine the
psychophysiology of emotional experience, an "in vivo"
situation was used. Using anticipation of "in vivo"
aversive and pleasant stimuli, it was easier for patients to
interpret the emotional meaning of the situations because
they did not have to analyze the affective quality of
various perceptual stimuli.