The left hemisphere activates concepts that are more loosely associated with a [[Stimulus (physiology)|stimulus]]{{dn|date=March 2017}}, allowing for production of non-literal and less frequent meanings of words. For example, when presented with an ambiguous word without context, the right hemisphere primes less frequent meaning of the word. Studies of patient with right hemisphere damage have demonstrated a disruption of divergent semantic processing, causing subjects to affiliate words with concrete, literal meanings produced by the left hemisphere. For example, a subject with right hemisphere damage will group the word “deep” with its antonym “shallow,” and have trouble producing the non-literal association of “deep” with “wise.”
