title: Is love right? Prefrontal resting brain asymmetry is related to the affiliation motive.
abstract: Previous research on relationships between affective-motivational traits and hemispheric asymmetries in resting frontal alpha band power as measured by electroencephalography (EEG) focused on individual differences in motivational direction (approach vs. withdrawal) or behavioral activation. The present study investigated resting frontal alpha asymmetries in 72 participants as a function of individual differences in the implicit affiliation motive as measured with the operant motive test (OMT) and explored the brain source thereof. Decreased relative right frontal activity as indexed by increased alpha band power was related to low levels of the implicit affiliation motive. No relationships were found for explicit personality measures. Intracranial current density distributions of alpha based on Variable Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography (VARETA) source estimations suggests that the source of cortical alpha distribution is located within the right ventromedial prefrontal cortex (PFC). The present results are discussed with respect to differential roles of the two hemispheres in social motivation.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Psychologie, University of Osnabrueck Osnabrueck, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quirin
authors.affiliation: Institut für Psychologie, University of Osnabrueck Osnabrueck, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gruber
authors.affiliation: Institut für Psychologie, University of Osnabrueck Osnabrueck, Germany.
authors.forename: Julius
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuhl
authors.affiliation: Institut für Psychologie, University of Osnabrueck Osnabrueck, Germany.
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Düsing
keywords: VARETA source localization; communion; implicit affiliation motive; operant motives test; resting EEG alpha asymmetry; social motivation