Cerebral asymmetry of emotion and its relationship to olfaction in infancy.
Item
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Title
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Cerebral asymmetry of emotion and its relationship to olfaction in infancy.
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Identifier
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AAI9732957
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identifier
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9732957
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Creator
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Olko, Caroline Marie.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Gerald Turkewitz
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Date
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1997
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Developmental | Psychology, Psychobiology
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Abstract
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Because of the close relationship between emotional parts of the brain and olfaction and since infants respond to smells (Sarnat, 1978; Lipsitt, Engen & Kaye, 1963), olfaction can be a tool in assessing emotional development and laterality. Taking advantage of the olfactory ipsilateral connections (right nostril projects to the right hemisphere etc{dollar}\...{dollar}) smells differing in affective valence (predetermined by adults) were presented to 42 neonates via a specially designed apparatus. Each infant was presented with 2 positive and 2 negative food-related odorants. An air stream was utilized as a neutral stimulus. In all cases the 4 odorants were paired with the neutral stimulus. Each pair was presented two times, once with the odorant being delivered to the right nostril and once with the odorant being delivered to the left nostril. These 8 trials were repeated in 4 blocks producing a total of 32 trials. In addition, control trials, where a puff of air was administered to both nostrils, were included. The presentation of the odorants was completely counterbalanced. In an attempt to discern any lateralized differentiated responding, reactions to the odorants were videotaped while the infants slept. The frequency of hand movements, head movements and sucking behaviors was noted. Results revealed that on each dependent measure (head, hand and sucking), infants responded significantly more to the smells than to the control. An additional finding was that sucking occurred more frequently when the smells went to the left hemisphere as opposed to the right.;Study 2 tested a number of hypotheses regarding emotional lateralization. Head movements served as the dependent measure. At each trial's start, the newborn's head was held in a midline position and directionality of initial head turns was noted. A significant interaction with Smell x Nostril x Direction was found. Post hoc analyses revealed significant effects occurred only for the positive smells. When the positive smells were presented to the left hemisphere, neonates made significantly more head turns toward the smell. This raises the possibility that approach behaviors may develop earlier than withdrawal behaviors.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
