Impaired social cognition 30 years after hemispherectomy for intractable epilepsy: the importance of the right hemisphere in complex social functioning.

Clinical research with individuals following hemispherectomy typically quantifies the success of surgical outcomes by focusing primarily on the achievement of seizure control and the preservation of general brain functions, such as movement, sensation, language, and memory. In addition to these outcomes, careful study of individuals following hemispherectomy also has the potential to contribute to our understanding of functional brain asymmetries involving other complex cognitive behaviors. In this study, we report preliminary evidence for the lateralization of social perception.