Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY
Volume 87, Issue 2, Pages 115-123Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2012.09.008
Keywords
Emotion regulation; EEG; Frontal asymmetry; Eyeblink startle
Funding
- University of Maryland, College Park
- Graduate Student Research Initiative Fund, Department of Kinesiology, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park
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The relationship between trait and state measures of frontal lobe EEG alpha-band asymmetry in regard to indexing the approach-withdrawal dimension of emotion is unclear. The comparative predictive power of these constructs to explain emotion regulation and cognitive performance was examined under varying degrees of emotional challenge. The Capability Model posits the neural underpinnings of the relative difference in electrical activity between the left and right frontal lobes as a situational mechanism possibly indexing prefrontal-amygdalar interactions and psychological state. EEG, skin conductance, heart rate and acoustic startle amplitude were collected during a working memory task under three increasing levels of stress (final level was threat of shock). During threat of shock participants with higher state asymmetry exhibited greater emotion regulation compared to those with lower scores as indexed by significant attenuation of eyeblink startle magnitudes. The trait measure of frontal EEG asymmetry failed to account for significant variability in emotion regulation. Results implicate state-specific relative left frontal lobe activity as having an adaptive role in the regulation of emotion during cognitive challenge, but only under conditions of sufficient stress. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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