Investigation of the laterality of hostility, cardiovascular regulation, and auditory recognition.

This experiment tested a hypothesis linking the right cerebral regulation of hostility and cardiovascular arousal. First, replication of previous research supporting heightened cardiovascular (systolic blood pressure [SBP] and diastolic blood pressure [DBP]) reactivity among high hostile participants was partially successful. Second, dynamic variations in functional cerebral asymmetry in response to emotional linguistic processing was measured. Thirty low- and high-hostile, undergraduate volunteer participants (n = 30) were identified using the Cook Medley Hostility Scale (CMHS). Only healthy, right-handed male participants completed the experiment. All participants completed the negative affective auditory verbal learning test (AAVLT). Cardiovascular measures (SBP and DBP) were recorded and dichotic listening procedures were administered before and after the cognitive affective stressor. The results support greater left cerebral activation among both groups following the dichotic phoneme listening tasks and greater right cerebral activation among both groups following an emotional linguistic (affective verbal learning) cognitive stressor.