Take it to the bridge: an interhemispheric processing advantage for emotional faces

Recent evidence indicates that emotional stimuli may be accorded special priority in information processing. Extending that research, this study tested the hypothesis that communication between the left and right hemispheres would be facilitated for emotional compared to non-emotional faces. Sixty-eight participants matched angry, happy, and neutral face photographs either within a single visual field (i.e., within one hemisphere) or across opposite visual fields (i.e., between the two hemispheres). An overall performance advantage favoring across-field trials was modulated by the emotionality of the face. Specifically, the across-field advantage was significantly greater for angry and happy faces compared to neutral faces, a pattern evident for both accuracy and reaction time data. Possible interpretations of the enhanced interhemispheric processing advantage include increased computational complexity or subcortical transfer of emotionally salient information. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.