Unilateral Brain Damage and Bilateral Skin Conductance Levels in Humans

Left and right, palmar and dorsal skin conductance levels (SCLs) were obtained from hospital controls, left hemisphere lesion S s, right hemisphere lesion S s, and diffuse or bilateral lesion S s during several experimental conditions involving rest, passive auditory stimulation, motor reactions, and simple “perception”. The unilateral lesion groups generally displayed significantly higher palmar SCLs on the side contralateral to their lesion. Such “laterality” was not demonstrated in dorsal recordings or in the hospital controls or diffuse lesion group. These unilateral lesion groups had higher palmar SCLs during passive stimulation than during rest, motor, or perception phases. Results were discussed in terms of possible neural mechanisms underlying the phenomena.