Emotional reactions are sometimes observed during
the intracarotid sodium amobarbital test. For instance,
euphoric/indifference reactions can be seen during right
hemisphere inactivation and catastrophic reactions may
accompany left hemisphere inactivation. Less dramatic changes
can also be detected in affective self-report during left
and right hemisphere amobarbital tests, with more negative
affect reported during left hemisphere inactivation and
either neutral or mildly positive affective states reported
during right hemisphere inactivation. The current study
not only replicated this effect, but in addition, found
significant group differences. The first group (right
way) showed a pattern of affective self-report during
left and right amobarbital tests entirely consistent with
prior findings, while a second group (wrong way)
showed results that behaved in a diametrically opposite
fashion. A third group (no change) showed little,
if any, difference in affective self-report during left
and right amobarbital tests. The major factor distinguishing
the wrong way group from the other two appeared to be an
asymmetrical distribution of left and right temporal lobe
lesions in the former group. In contrast, the factor differentiating
the right way group from the no change group appeared to
be the relative degree of left hemisphere inactivation
during the left hemisphere amobarbital test. The results
are discussed not only in terms of their impact on theories
of cerebral lateralization for emotion, but also in terms
of methodological issues in this field. (JINS,
2000, 6, 659–667.)