Right hemisphere damage (RHD) has been related to alterations in emotion processing. However, results regarding physiological responses are limited and inconsistent. More research regarding specific brain areas involved in emotional physiological responses is needed.

To examine the skin conductance response (SCR) to emotion eliciting images in patients with single RHD. To explore the relationship between SCR and brain injury location in patients with single RHD.

To examine the relationship between SCR and cortical and subcortical damage in RH regarding emotional processing.

Forty-one individuals with RHD due to stroke were assessed (mean age 68.5, SD 12.2, 51.1 males). The amplitude of event-related SCR was registered through a biofeedback system while observing 54 photographs from the international affective picture system (IAPS). Emotional images were classified using two different approaches: emotional valence (pleasant, unpleasant, neutral) and social vs. non-social content. Brain damage location, determined through medical records, included cortical (frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes) as well as sub-cortical (caudate nucleus, thalamus, lenticular nucleus, insular cortex, basal ganglia and limbic system) structures.

Amplitude of SCR to emotional images was significantly lower in individuals with occipital cortex injury compared to those with damage in other brain locations (P < 0.05). These results were consistent through all stimuli categories but non-social pictures, which presented the same pattern though, did not reach statistical significance.

Results show a relationship between occipital areas in HD and SCR to emotional eliciting stimuli, suggesting occipital right lobe involvement in physiological emotional processing.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.