Abstract
Frontal asymmetry measured at rest using EEG is considered a stable marker of approach-avoidance behaviors and risk taking. We examined whether without salient cues of attention in the form of losses, predictability is reduced. Fifty-seven participants performed an experiential decision task in a gain-only, loss-only, and mixed (gains and losses) condition. Increased risk taking on the part of individuals with relatively high left frontal activation, as denoted by the Alpha band, was only observed in the task involving both gains and losses. Event-related potential analysis sheds light on the processes leading to this pattern. Left-frontal dominant individuals had increased fronto-central P300 activation following risky compared to safe outcomes, while right-frontal dominant individuals did not show a P300 difference following safe and risky outcomes. This interaction also only emerged when losses were contrasted with gains. The findings highlight the sensitivity of behavioral predictability to cues of valence.
Highlights
One of the most prominent lines of research in predicting behavior from “at rest” physiological measures is the study of frontal EEG asymmetry. Davidson (1992, 1995) theorized that while both the left and right frontal regions are involved in the processing of emotions, left frontal regions are more active during approachrelated emotions, whereas right frontal regions are more active during withdrawal related emotions
We examined whether the association between frontal EEG asymmetry and risk taking behavior would be more prominent with losses, a salient cue known to increase attention and decrease random responding (Taylor, 1991; Satterthwaite et al, 2007; Yechiam and Hochman, 2013)
This led to the discovery of a link between frontal asymmetry and risk taking (Knoch et al, 2006; Gianotti et al, 2009; Studer et al, 2013)
Summary
One of the most prominent lines of research in predicting behavior from “at rest” physiological measures is the study of frontal EEG asymmetry. Davidson (1992, 1995) theorized that while both the left and right frontal regions are involved in the processing of emotions, left frontal regions are more active during approachrelated emotions, whereas right frontal regions are more active during withdrawal related emotions. Davidson (1992, 1995) theorized that while both the left and right frontal regions are involved in the processing of emotions, left frontal regions are more active during approachrelated emotions, whereas right frontal regions are more active during withdrawal related emotions This hypothesis was confirmed by the finding that left frontal activity at rest is correlated with increased motivation to approach potentially positive stimuli (e.g., Davidson, 1992, 1995, 2004; Harmon-Jones and Allen, 1997; Sutton and Davidson, 1997, 2000; Coan et al, 2001; Coan and Allen, 2003, 2004) and increased risk taking (Knoch et al, 2006; Gianotti et al, 2009; Studer et al, 2013). We take the approach that a substantial part of the variance of inter-individual differences in behavior is due to random influences, and examine whether salient cues of attention in the form of losses can increase the predictability of behavior
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