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Epilepsy & Behavior 9 (2006) 415–423 www.elsevier.com/locate/yebeh

Neural responses associated with positive and negative emotion processing in patients with left versus right temporal lobe epilepsy
Anne-Claire Batut , Daniel Gounot a,b,c, Izzie J. Namer a,b,c, Edouard Hirsch d, Pierre Kehrli e, Marie-Noelle Metz-Lutz a,b,c,d,* a a,b,c

c

´ ´ ´ Faculte de Medecine, Universite Strasbourg, Strasbourg F-67000, France b CNRS, UMR7004, Strasbourg F-67000, France ˆ Service d’explorations fonctionnelles par les isotopes, Hopital Civil, CHRU Strasbourg, Strasbourg F-67000, France d ˆ Clinique Neurologique, Hopital Civil, CHRU Strasbourg, Strasbourg F-67000, France e ˆ Service de Neurochirurgie, Hopital de Hautepierre, CHRU Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France Received 6 April 2006; revised 13 July 2006; accepted 19 July 2006 Available online 1 September 2006

Abstract Studies on emotion processing in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy have dealt mainly with the processing of negative emotions. To further understand the neural basis of emotional disorders in temporal lobe epilepsy, we studied patterns of brain activation induced by implicit processing of negative and positive emotions perceived through facial expressions and emotionally salient stimuli in candidates for surgical treatment of intractable epilepsy. Using functional MRI, we compared, in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and healthy subjects, the patterns of brain activation elicited by the implicit processing of fearful, sad, and happy faces and pleasant and unpleasant scenes. The results revealed different patterns of activation in patients with left and right mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, compared with healthy subjects, suggesting that the left and right mesial temporal regions are involved differently in emotion processing, which could be related to different contributions in emotional arousal. Ó 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Emotion; Temporal lobe epilepsy;