title: Speech presentation cues moderate frontal EEG asymmetry in socially withdrawn young adults.
abstract: Socially withdrawn individuals display solitary behavior across wide contexts with both unfamiliar and familiar peers. This tendency to withdraw may be driven by either past or anticipated negative social encounters. In addition, socially withdrawn individuals often exhibit right frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry at baseline and when under stress. In the current study we examined shifts in frontal EEG activity in young adults (N=41) at baseline, as they viewed either an anxiety-provoking or a benign speech video, and as they subsequently prepared for their own speech. Results indicated that right frontal EEG activity increased, relative to the left, only for socially withdrawn participants exposed to the anxious video. These results suggest that contextual affective cues may prime an individual's response to stress, particularly if they illustrate or substantiate an anticipated negative event.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive Fairfax, VA 22030, United States. claire.cole@gmail.com
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Zapp
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Katherine Nelson
authors.forename: Koraly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pérez-Edgar
mesh_terms: D003463:Cues; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult