Tympanic Membrane Temperature, Hemispheric Activity, and Affect: Evidence for a Modest Relationship

Tympanic membrane temperature (TMT) offers a methodologically simple and noninvasive means to provide a physiological measure of hemispheric activation, although the mechanisms by which it may be related to hemispheric activity are not completely known. Here, the authors examined TMT at baseline and after a mood-induction protocol. They replicate baseline associations between increased absolute difference between left and right TMT and increased anger, and found evidence for a link between increased TMT and increased ipsilateral hemispheric activation after mood-induction. They also found tentative evidence for the existence of right-lateralized emotional hyperthermia after mood-induction.