Hemispheric dissociation of anxiety and autonomic arousal during lateral visual field viewing: a case report.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience May 15, 2026 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2026.1763515 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 72 |
| Population | A man in his 40s with longstanding anxiety and depression, plus 72 consecutive patients entered into the author's practice |
| Intervention | Lateral visual field viewing |
| Measures | Fingertip pulse oximeter (pulse rate) |
| Topics | Anxiety |
| Keywords | Individual differences Autonomic arousal Trauma memory Dual-brain psychology Hemispheric emotional valence |
| Key findings | Alternating lateral visual field viewing produced rapid, reversible, reproducible shifts in affect, self-appraisal, and clinician appraisal in one patient, with pulse rate co-occurring (about 105 bpm anxious/shame vs 85-90 bpm calm/secure). Among 72 consecutive patients, 89% showed a clinically useful between-field difference in momentary anxiety and 49% a marked difference. The author argues these observations are consistent with partially independent hemispheric experiential systems and history-dependent meaning driving physiological response. |
Abstract
We report a clinical case illustrating rapid, reversible, and reproducible hemispheric differences in subjective experience and autonomic arousal during lateral visual field viewing. A man in his 40s with longstanding anxiety and depression showed repeatable shifts in affective state, self-appraisal, and appraisal of the clinician when alternately viewing through the right versus left lateral visual field while holding the same shame-evoking interpersonal scenario in mind. Pulse rate measured with a fingertip pulse oximeter was observed to co-occur with these shifts (anxious/shame state ≈105 bpm; calm/secure state ≈85-90 bpm; baseline ≈95 bpm). Across 72 consecutive patients entered into the author's practice, 89% showed a clinically useful between-field difference in momentary anxiety and 49% showed a marked difference of the type described in this case report. Together with prior findings from split-brain research, Wada studies, fMRI, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), and lateral visual field stimulation (LVFS) paradigms, this observation is consistent with the partial functional independence of two hemispheric experiential systems-one of which is more childlike and more affected by past trauma-and with history-dependent meaning as a driver of physiological response. We interpret the case within Dual-Brain Psychology (DBP) and relate the findings to the Emotion-Type Hypothesis (ETH), proposing a distinction between lateralized emotional functions (as characterized by ETH) and hemispheric experiential dominance (as characterized by DBP). On this account, a hemispheric experiential system may function as the dominant organizing self while recruiting emotional and cognitive capacities distributed across both hemispheres. This synthesis may help reconcile population-level associations between emotion type and hemispheric specialization with the within-individual variability in hemispheric emotional valence observed under lateral visual field viewing.
Comparable studies
Other case reports and case series on anxiety, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Persistent Palinopsia Following Ingestion of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) Patients who developed persistent palinopsia after LSD ingestion | 1996 | Case series | n = 3 |
| Cannabis‐induced Koro in Americans American men aged 22-26 with years of cannabis experience who reported negative... | 2001 | Case series | n = 3 |
| Psilocybin and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Individual with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder | 2014 | Case study | n = 1 |
| LSD-Like Panic From Risperidone in Post-LSD Visual Disorder Patients with hallucinogen-persisting perception disorder (HPPD) | 1996 | Case study | n = 3 |
| Ketamine-Enhanced Psychotherapy: Preliminary Clinical Observations on its Effects in Treating Death Anxiety Terminally-ill people suffering death anxiety | 2007 | Review and case study | n = 2 |