Right hemisphere damage is often associated with impairments in which areas?

Right hemisphere damage is commonly associated with impairments in semantic and pragmatic processing. This is largely due to the functions typically managed by the right hemisphere, which are critical for integrating contextual cues, understanding sarcasm, humor, and figurative language, as well as interpreting the emotional tone of conversations. Individuals with right hemisphere damage may struggle to understand the underlying meanings or appropriate social contexts, leading to challenges in effective communication and social interactions.

In contrast, other areas such as syntax and grammar processing are predominantly managed by the left hemisphere, often leading to less impairment when the right hemisphere is affected. Similarly, articulation and voice quality, which pertain to the physical aspects of speech production, do not directly relate to the functions of the right hemisphere and are more associated with motor control and the left hemisphere's language processing areas. Phonological processing, related to the sounds of speech and the organization of sound patterns, also typically involves the left hemisphere. Therefore, semantic and pragmatic processing is the most accurate representation of the impairments associated with right hemisphere damage.