The authors compared bilateral recordings of electrodermal activity and
conjugate lateral eye movements in two groups (10 men and 10 women each) of
college students: high-risk nonpatients with subsyndromal depression and
normal control subjects. Like acutely depressed patients, the high-risk
subjects showed smaller right- than left-hand skin conductance response
amplitudes to neutral tones. This group also showed a bias toward
left-tending conjugate lateral eye movements in response to various
cognitive problems. Control subjects showed symmetrical responses on all
electrodermal activity measures and question-specific conjugate lateral eye
movements. These data are tentatively interpreted as reflecting
right-hemisphere hyperexcitability in affective illness.Abstract Teaser