Hemispheric activation, affective judgments, and pain perception

Abstract

This study utilized a unique contact lens method to examine the influence of right hemisphere processing on affective judgments and pain perception. Under conditions of unilateral visual stimulation, participants completed affective ratings of films and underwent a cold pressor pain task. The goal was to examine differences in affective judgments of films projected to one or the other hemisphere and to examine the influence of this unilateral visual stimulation on pain sensitivity. The results failed to replicate a previous finding of differential affective judgments under conditions of right and left visual stimulation. Nonetheless, in female subjects, unilateral visual stimulation was significantly associated with pain lateralization. This finding is discussed in terms of attentional processes in pain perception and limitations of the current lens design.