Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School
 of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the
 Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

 HEMISPHERIC DIFFERENCES IN EMOTIONAL PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY

 BY

 Beth S. Slomine


 August 1995



 Chairperson: Dawn Bowers
 Cochairperson: Russell M. Bauer
 Major Department: Clinical & Health Psychology

 Two theories have been proposed to explain the

organization of emotions within the cortical hemispheres.

According to the global right hemisphere model, the right

hemisphere takes a predominant role in modulating emotions.

Based on the global theory, patients with right hemisphere

damage (RHD) have a deficit in emotional processing of all

emotions. According to the other hemispheric theory of

emotion, the bivalent model, the right hemisphere modulates

negative emotions and the left hemisphere modulates positive

emotions. This model predicts that RHD patients would be

deficient in emotional processing of negative emotions,

whereas patients with left hemisphere damage (LHD) would be

impaired in processing positive emotions.