Recent research on the neuropsychology of emotion and pain has indicated that emotion and pain are complex processes that may substantially influence each other. Disorders of negative emotion and pain are known to co-occur (Delgado, 2004); however, it is not clear whether negative emotional conditions lead to pain or whether increased pain experiences lead to negative emotion. Further, certain negative emotions, such as hostility or anger, may produce differential effects on the experience of pain, such that they may lead to an increase in pain or a decrease in pain. An increase or decrease in pain perception may lead to altered behavioral, cognitive, and neuropsychological effects in high hostility. In order to more clearly examine the aforementioned relationships, the current experiment examined auditory emotion perception before and after cold pressor pain in high and low hostile men. Additionally, quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) was used to measure changes in cerebral activation as a result of auditory emotion perception and cold pressor pain. Results indicated that identification of emotion post-cold pressor differed as a function of hostility level and ear. The high hostile group increased identification of stimuli at the right ear after cold pressor exposure, while the low hostile group increased identification of stimuli at the left ear after cold pressor exposure. Primary QEEG findings indicated increased left temporal activation after cold pressor exposure and increased reactivity to cold pressor pain in the high hostile group. Low hostile men had a bilateral increase in high beta magnitude at the temporal lobes and a bilateral increase in delta magnitude at the frontal lobes after the cold pressor. Results suggest decreased cerebral laterality and left hemisphere activation for emotional and pain processing in high hostile men. / Ph. D.

Many adults and children have problems reading and comprehending books, signs, written directions, etc. These same individuals have difficulty processing written materials as a result of right hemisphere interference. The Lynks Reader (DLR Co., Richmond, VA) is a commercially developed device which has been used to help individuals move from their right to their left hemisphere and to increase reading fluency and comprehension. The objective of this project was to evaluate the best way to use the various forms of the Lynks Reader. Using the device demonstrated an increase in reading fluency and comprehension by increasing the left hemisphere dominance. In addition, different types of headphones with microphones, and music devices (MP3 or CD player), were studied to determine which performs best in formulating a more effective device. Furthermore, the voice and music sound level and frequency output of the device was calibrated to insure the efficacy.

In my Event-Related Potential studies, these two factors are analyzed collectively. Two dichotic listening experiments, one word phonological priming experiment, and one sentence semantic violation experiment are conducted. The results indicate that the linguistic role (e.g. semantics) causes the tone processing toward the left side, whereas the physical property causes the tone processing toward the right side. / In this dissertation, I discuss the effects of the linguistic role and the physical property on the hemispheric specialization (lateralization) of the lexical tones. In the previous studies of lateralization, there are two contradictory hypotheses. One emphasizes the linguistic role and predicts a left lateralization of tone perception, while the other emphasizes the physical property and predicts a right lateralization of tone perception. Both hypotheses have their supporting evidence. / No previous tone lateralization studies have analyzed the underlying factors. Following the philosophy that language is built upon multiple cognitive functions, I further examine the effects of semantic memory and pitch processing on the lateralization of tones in various language tasks. My findings help bridge the previous theoretical discrepancies and unify the conflicting experimental results regarding tone lateralization. / Shuai, Lan / Adviser: William S-Y. Wang. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-01, Section: B, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-153). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

Thesis (D. Phil. Communication Pathology)--Universiteit van Pretoria, 2002. / Summary in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Speech and Hearing Sciences / Master / Master of Science in Audiology

Dichotic listening of auditory stimuli is a method of assessing brain lateralisation. Different stimuli are presented simultaneously to the left and right ears, with the listener reporting which stimulus is perceived most clearly. To date, several studies that have examined the effects of aging on dichotic listening performance have indicated a pronounced right ear advantage (REA) with increasing age, but few studies have considered the effects of sex, and findings to date have been inconclusive. The aim of this research was to investigate whether the effects of age and sex resulted in a difference in the magnitude of the REA in both undirected and directed attentional tasks. Forty sex-matched, right-handed subjects with normal hearing or symmetrical bilateral sensorineural hearing loss participated in a series of directed and undirected dichotic listening tasks using consonant-vowel (CV) stimuli. The interaural intensity difference (IID) was modulated randomly during the undirected attention task. Results indicated that all groups (age & sex) showed a REA for both undirected and directed dichotic listening tasks. No age or sex-related differences were found. The findings were suggestive of a task-linked effect for dichotic listening performance. The use of CV stimuli, in combination with detailed testing via manipulation of the IID, appeared to minimize any possible age or sex-related differences. These findings have implications for theories on laterality and hemispheric asymmetry for older adults.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-112). Also available via the Internet.

Audiologists are reliant on objective audiometric procedures to predict auditory sensitivity in difficult-to-test populations. A technique to estimate frequency-specific hearing thresholds in a time-efficient way for difficult-to-test populations, who are unable to provide behavioural responses, has long been the hope of audiologists. The auditory brainstem response (ABR) has dominated the field of objective electrophysiological audiometry for the past three decades. Although it provides a useful method of estimating auditory sensitivity, it presents with its own set of limitations. Recently the auditory steady state response (ASSR) has demonstrated promise of addressing the limitations of the ABR as it is an evoked response uniquely suited to frequency-specific measurement. An optimised version of the ASSR, the dichotic multiple frequency (MF) ASSR, has been proposed as a time-efficient way of evaluating different frequencies simultaneously in both ears. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of the dichotic MF ASSR technique for estimating pure tone behavioural thresholds at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz, compared to a 0.5 kHz tone burst and broadband click ABR protocol in a sample of normal hearing adults (56 ears). A comparative experimental research design was selected in order to compare thresholds obtained with the different procedures. The results indicated that both the dichotic MF ASSR and a 0.5 kHz tone burst and broadband click ABR protocol provided a reasonable estimation of PT behavioural thresholds in a time-efficient manner for a group of normal hearing subjects. The click ABR did, however, present with 1, 2, and 4 kHz PT threshold estimations that were almost 50 % closer than that of the dichotic MF ASSR according to the mean and normal deviation. This increased accuracy and reliability of the click ABR is however compromised by its lack of frequency-specificity. In the low frequency region of 0.5 kHz, the tone burst ABR and dichotic MF ASSR evidenced estimations of the pure tone threshold that were, on average, very similar. The tone burst ABR, however, presented with a mean threshold slightly (3 dB) closer to the pure tone threshold than the dichotic MF ASSR. The 0.5 kHz dichotic MF ASSR presented with a smaller range of normal deviation in the estimation of pure tone thresholds which suggested a more reliable measure than the 0.5 kHz tone burst ABR. The dichotic MF ASSR evaluation provided eight thresholds (4/ear) in 23 minutes on average compared to 25 minutes on average required by the ABR protocol to evaluate 4 thresholds (2/ear). This research concluded that the dichotic MF ASSR is useful for estimating frequency-specific pure tone thresholds reasonably well in a time-efficient manner but that this technique should be used in a test-battery alongside the ABR. Both the dichotic MF ASSR and the ABR comprise unique qualities that can be combined in a cross-check principle approach in order to provide complementary information that will verify results obtained with each procedure. / Dissertation (MA (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / Unrestricted

Stroke, or cerebrovascular accident (CVA), is a prominent cause of long term disability in the United States. It has been evidenced that the outcome of a CVA patient differs as a function of the cerebral hemisphere that is damaged by the stroke, especially in terms of emotional changes. The Right Hemisphere Model of Emotion posits that the right hemisphere is specialized for processing emotional content, regardless of valence. In contrast, the Bi-Hemispheric Model of Emotion posits that each hemisphere has its own emotional specialization. The current experiment tested the competing predictions of the two theoretical perspectives in a mixed sample of left cerebrovascular accident (LCVA) patients and right cerebrovascular accident (RCVA) patients using a Dichotic Listening task and the Affective Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AAVLT). Heart Rate (HR) and Pulse Oxygen Saturation (SpO2) were also recorded as sympathetic measures. It was expected that the predictions of the Bi-Hemispheric Model would be supported. A series of mixed design ANOVAs were used to analyze the data. Results revealed that both groups may have exhibited decreased auditory detection abilities in the ear contralateral to CVA location. Additionally, CVA patients recalled significantly more positive words, than negative or neutral words, and exhibited a significant learning curve. LCVA patients exhibited a recency effect, while RCVA patients exhibited a heightened primacy effect. Findings from HR and SPO2 measures suggested a parasympathetic response to neutral information as well as an impaired sympathetic response to negative information in RCVA patients. Taken together these results lend partial support to the hypotheses drawn from the Bi-Hemispheric Model of Emotion, as evidenced by the diametrically opposite effects in these groups, which appears to reflect opposing cerebral processes. / Ph. D.

This experiment tested two hypotheses linking the right cerebral regulation of hostility and cardiovascular arousal. First, replication of previous research supporting heightened cardiovascular (systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate) reactivity among high hostile participants was attempted. Second, dynamic variations in functional cerebral asymmetry in response to pain (cold pressor) and emotional linguistic processing was measured. Low- and high-hostile participants were identified using the Cook Medley Hostility Scale (CMHS). All participants completed either the negative affective verbal learning test (Experiment 1) or the cold pressor paradigm (Experiment 2). Cardiovascular measures (SBP, DBP, and HR) were recorded and either dichotic listening procedures (Experiment 1) or tachistoscopic lexical recognition procedures (Experiment 2) were administered before and after the stressor. The primary finding of this research was greater left cerebral activation (decreased cardiovascular reactivity) following the dichotic phoneme listening and the tachistoscopic lexical recognition tasks and greater right cerebral activation following pain (cold pressor) and emotionally linguistic (affective verbal learning) stressors. / Master of Science