It is widely believed among neuroscientists that the left frontal lobe is the main origin of positive emotions and on the other hand, the right frontal lobe is the main origin of negative emotions, in constant interaction with the amygdala structures on each side. Chapter 12 from the book: 'Behind the Scenes of the Brain Show' by Dr. Zeev Nitzan - Part Two
It is widely believed among neuroscientists that the left frontal lobe is the main origin of positive emotions and on the other hand, the right frontal lobe is the main origin of negative emotions, in constant interaction with the amygdala structures on each side.
A person suffering from damage to the frontal areas on the left, is more prone to depression and a reduction in initiative and inner drive. It is likely that this is due to the fact that the right frontal hemisphere, which is the region of the knight in grief, becomes the main generator of his emotions. Damage to the right frontal area causes a tendency to a positive mood to the point of mania at times.
This is also where the strange term "happy stroke" comes from, which refers to damage to the brain tissue of the right frontal lobe, usually due to ischemia (damage caused by a reduction in the blood supply to the tissue and, as a result, a lack of oxygen and glucose in sufficient quantity). The term "happy", which sounds oxymoronic in this context, is due to the fact that the sufferer of the injury often underestimates and underestimates the severity of the deficits derived from the brain event and shows relative ease.
On the other hand - "sad stroke" refers to ischemic damage to brain tissue in the left frontal lobe. The term "sad" in this context is in the sense of the mental expressions in the sufferer such as depression, the feeling of a lack of hope and expectancy in relation to the deficiencies caused by the brain event and the chances of recovery and improvement.
Support for this widespread belief comes from the "Vada test" which is a neuropsychological test named after the neurologist John Vada who first devised it.
It is a reversible pharmacological procedure that is used for functional evaluation before brain surgery, mainly among those suffering from epilepsy whose seizures are resistant to drug treatment. During this procedure, one half of the brain is "deactivated" by anesthetizing it through a selective injection of a short-lived anesthetic (sodium amytal). This substance is routed through the carotid artery on each side to the target digit and then, upon awakening, the victim is eliminated. The active half of the brain (sometimes the right and sometimes the left), is required to perform verbal tasks, mainly to conclude about its ability to compensate if its partner is operated on and its function is impaired. During this test the person becomes possessed of one functional hemisphere of the brain at a time.
The finding that emerges from observing the test subjects is that the right-brained person, when the left half of the brain is numb, is severely impaired in the ability to speak to the point of muteness and his emotional state is painted in gloomy shades. On the other hand, the person in the left-brain version tends to be talkative and reflects a springy and cheerful inner emotional climate.
Additional support comes from the finding that magnetic stimulation, using the method called Trans Magnetic Stimulation - TMS, which stimulates activity in the left frontal lobe, improves the mood in depressed patients, and on the other hand - stimulation of activity in the right frontal lobe worsens it.
The conventional explanation assumes that the activity of the left frontal lobe is the main producer of the feeling of "feeling good". Soaking in this feeling is mediated by flooding the brain with the nectar of the gods, a cocktail containing mainly the neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin and a dash of endorphins.
A step in the steps shoes of the right hemisphere echoes like a requiem, and that of the left - like a cheerful march.
The processing of non-verbal information, especially in social contexts, usually takes place in the right hemisphere. For example, prosody, the tone of voice that accompanies the words ("the melody to which the words are spoken"), is processed in the right hemisphere. Damage to the right hemisphere can cause poor social behavior that doesn't notice subtleties, tends to be gross and difficult to discern emotions. This kind of behavior is characterized by a lack of social sensitivity (a term also called ethymia or "social awkwardness").
The right amygdala is believed to add intense gloomy shades to the mental image. Like the source of the frown. The psychiatrists of the characters in the cartoons would undoubtedly diagnose Zafani, the perpetually grumpy dwarf in Snow White's fairy tale, as suffering from an overactive right amygdala. This area is like a generator that restarts and induces sullenness and gloom, which cast their long shadow on the inner world of each and every one of us (and like the spell of sleep in the story of Snow White, in this case too - a kiss can dispel their depressing effect).
On the other hand, playing minor-sombre notes is the emotional soundtrack produced by the left amygdala harp.
Those suffering from depression are less inclined to lie (to themselves and others...) seems to be an expression of the increased activity in their brains of the right frontal hemisphere which causes sadness but also (overly?) realism and is more inclined to see things as they are.
Often the potion of reality as it is is too bitter for the ego's palate, and a certain dose of self-deception (inspired by the left frontal hemisphere) is the necessary sweetener that allows you to sip the potion of reality.
pour into the cup of the soul
The emotional affinity of the hemispheres also stems from the different mental world they create.
It is likely that there is a relationship between the cognitive activation profile that characterizes a person and his "emotional personality", that is, the style of expressing his emotions.
A person's temperament probably stems from different activation patterns of the brain regions. The left hemisphere pours sweetness into the soul's cup, while the right affects bitterness into the soul's drink. Those who naturally tend to enjoy life, are blessed with a higher than normal activity of the left frontal lobe, on the other hand - those who tend to be depressed, suffer from excess activity of the right frontal lobe. Generally, our "moods" are the mixture of the activity of the two hemispheres and this is where the bittersweet taste of life is obtained.
The U-curve of happiness
In a telephone study carried out in 2008, thousands of women and men between the ages of 18 and 85 were asked about their feelings regarding various aspects of life.
It was found that the feeling of sadness intensified in a gradual pattern from a low level at the age of 18 to a peak at the age of fifty and then consistently decreased until the average age of 73, after which it increased slightly until the age of 85.
The feelings of satisfaction and happiness from life were found to be high at the age of 18 and from this age onwards they decreased in a consistent pattern and at a moderate slope until they reached a low point around the age of fifty. From this age onward, the trend changed for the next 25 years (up to the age of 75), and the respondents reported increasing levels of satisfaction that then decreased with a moderate slope.
Another study, in which two million people in eighty countries were surveyed, also discovered a similar pattern that does not depend on gender or geographical area: we are at our lowest point in terms of life satisfaction in our mid-forties, and the levels of life satisfaction are high at both ends of life - when we are in our teens and in our old age.
The U-curve of human happiness as a function of age may have a universal pattern independent of culture. However, it is certain that this does not imply the correctness of this pattern at the level of the individual individual, but rather as a statistical statement, which exists among the "osherologists" (researchers of the sense of mental well-being), who dispute its validity by stressing that the difference in people's life circumstances makes it difficult to see purely chronological age as a dominant marker. of inner emotional climate.
Even in the shadow of the reservations, could it be that in the fifth decade of our lives the right frontal hemisphere sang its swan song in the lake of our feelings, and then gradually the brighter colors of the left frontal hemisphere are reflected more and more in the lake of our feelings as a mental compensation mechanism designed to make it easier to deal with the difficulties of old age and its ailments?
To the page for purchasing the book on the book junction website
