State anger and prefrontal brain activity: evidence that insult-related relative left-prefrontal activation is associated with experienced anger and aggression.
Research has demonstrated that left-prefrontal cortical activity is associated with positive affect, or approach motivation, and that right-prefrontal cortical activity is associated with negative affect, or withdrawal motivation. In past research, emotional valence (positive-negative) has been confounded with motivational direction (approach-withdrawal), such that, for instance, the only emotions examined were both positive and approach related. Recent research has demonstrated that trait anger, a negative but approach-related emotion, is associated with increased left-prefrontal and decreased right-prefrontal activity, suggesting that prefrontal asymmetrical activity is associated with motivational direction and not emotional valence. The present experiment tested whether state-induced anger is associated with relative left-prefrontal activity and whether this prefrontal activity is also associated with aggression. Results supported these hypotheses.
Harmon-Jones
E
E
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706, USA. eharmonj@facstaff.wisc.edu
Sigelman
J
J
D000374:Aggression / Q000502:physiology*; D000786:Anger / Q000502:physiology*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009042:Motivation; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*