Prefrontal brain electrical asymmetry predicts the evaluation of affective stimuli.
Measures of left-right asymmetry in resting brain activity were derived from spectral estimates of electroencephalogram (EEG) alpha-band power density in 13 homologous scalp electrode pairs from 81 right-handed individuals (43 F) on two occasions separated by 6 weeks. At a third, later session, these individuals completed a cognitive task, comparing word-pairs that systematically differed in affective tone. For an extended series of paired-comparisons, the subject chose the one word-pair that 'went together best'. Objectively, associative strength was comparable for both word-pairs. Individuals with relatively greater left-sided anterior frontal resting activity were more likely to select the more pleasant word-pair. Relations between word-pair selection and asymmetry in resting brain activity at central and posterior sites were not significant.
Sutton
S K
SK
Department of Psychology, University of Miami, P.O. Box 248185, Coral Gables, FL 33124-2070, USA. sksutton@miami.edu
Davidson
R J
RJ
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D014825:Vocabulary