J., J., Harmon-Jones, E., & Cavender, J. H. (2001). Manipulation of frontal EEG asymmetry through biofeedback alters self-reported emotional responses and facial EMG. Psychophysiology, 38(4), 685-693.
PMID: 11446582;Abstract:
Individual differences in resting asymmetrical frontal brain activity have been found to predict subsequent emotional responses. The question of whether frontal brain asymmetry can cause emotional responses has yet to be addressed. Biofeedback training designed to alter the asymmetry of frontal brain activity was therefore examined. Eighteen right-handed female participants were randomly assigned to receive biofeedback training designed to increase right frontal alpha relative to left frontal alpha (n = 9) or to receive training in the opposite direction (n = 9). Five consecutive days of biofeedback training provided signals of reward or nonreward depending on whether the difference between right (F4) and left (F3) frontal alpha exceeded a criterion value in the specified direction. Systematic alterations of frontal EEG asymmetry were observed as a function of biofeedback training. Moreover, subsequent self-reported affect and facial muscle activity in response to emotionally evocative film clips were influenced by the direction of biofeedback training.
Stewart, J. L., Coan, J. A., Towers, D. N., & Allen, J. J. (2014). Resting and task-elicited prefrontal EEG alpha asymmetry in depression: support for the capability model. Psychophysiology, 51, 446--455.
Smith, E. E., Zambrano-Vazquez, L., & Allen, J. J. (2016). Patterns of alpha asymmetry in those with elevated worry, trait anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms: A test of the worry and avoidance models of alpha asymmetry. Neuropsychologia, 85, 118-126.
Allen, J., & Allen, J. J. (2008). Not devoid of forensic potential, but... The American journal of bioethics : AJOB, 8(1).
Dikman, Z. V., & J., J. (2000). Error monitoring during reward and avoidance learning in high- and low- socialized individuals. Psychophysiology, 37(1), 43-54.
PMID: 10705766;Abstract:
The error-related negativity (ERN) is a response-locked brain potential generated when individuals make mistakes during simple decision-making tasks. In the present study, we examined ERN under conditions of reward and punishment, among participants who scored extremely low or high on the socialization scale of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI). Participants completed a forced-choice task, and were rewarded for correct responses in half the trials, and punished for incorrect responses in the remaining trials. A significant interaction between socialization (SO) and condition revealed that low-SO participants produced smaller ERNs during the punishment task than during the reward task, whereas high-SO participants produced similar ERNs in both conditions. Reaction time and electromyogram data essentially bolster the interpretation that the ERN effects reflect differences in error salience for high-SO and low-SO participants, and are consistent with the avoidance-learning deficits seen in psychopathy.
