Trait anger predicts relative left frontal cortical activation to anger-inducing stimuli.

Building on past research that has suggested that relatively greater left frontal cortical activity is associated with approach-related anger and that individuals who are high in trait anger are more likely to evidence angry responses, the present research tested whether individuals high in trait anger would be more likely to evidence relatively greater left frontal cortical activity in response to anger-eliciting pictorial stimuli. In the experiment, participants were exposed to pictures intended to evoke anger, fear/disgust, positive, or neutral affective reactions. Electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was recorded continuously, and alpha power was derived from the EEG to measure cortical activity. Trait anger was measured using the Buss and Perry Aggression Questionnaire [Buss, A.H., Perry, M., 1992. The aggression questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 452-459]. Results revealed that trait anger was positively related to greater relative left frontal cortical activity to anger-evoking pictures but not to other types of pictures.

[1]  Nancy L. Stein,et al.  Psychological and Biological Approaches To Emotion , 1990 .

[2]  Richard J. Davidson,et al.  The asymmetrical brain , 2003 .

[3]  E. Silberman,et al.  Hemispheric lateralization of functions related to emotion , 1986, Brain and Cognition.

[4]  L. Konopka,et al.  Frontal Alpha Power Asymmetry in Aggressive Children and Adolescents with Mood and Disruptive Behavior Disorders , 2006, Clinical EEG and neuroscience.

[5]  Johannes Hewig,et al.  On the selective relation of frontal cortical asymmetry and anger-out versus anger-control. , 2004, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[6]  G. Schwartz,et al.  Differential lateralization for positive and negative emotion in the human brain: EEG spectral analysis , 1985, Neuropsychologia.

[7]  E. D. de Haan,et al.  Attentional biases for angry faces: Relationships to trait anger and anxiety , 2001 .

[8]  R. Davidson,et al.  Prefrontal Brain Asymmetry: A Biological Substrate of the Behavioral Approach and Inhibition Systems , 1997 .

[9]  Ian H. Gotlib,et al.  Frontal EEG Alpha Asymmetry, Depression, and Cognitive Functioning , 1998 .

[10]  W. Heller,et al.  The puzzle of regional brain activity in depression and anxiety: The importance of subtypes and comorbidity. , 1998 .

[11]  John J. B. Allen,et al.  Behavioral activation sensitivity and resting frontal EEG asymmetry: covariation of putative indicators related to risk for mood disorders. , 1997, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[12]  P. Ekman,et al.  Approach-withdrawal and cerebral asymmetry: emotional expression and brain physiology. I. , 1990, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[13]  E. Harmon-Jones,et al.  The Effect of Personal Relevance and Approach-Related Action Expectation on Relative Left Frontal Cortical Activity , 2006, Psychological science.

[14]  Dale J. Cohen,et al.  Attention allocation and habituation to anger‐related stimuli during a visual search task , 1998 .

[15]  Turhan Canli,et al.  Hemispheric Asymmetry in the Experience of Emotion: A Perspective from Functional Imaging , 1999 .

[16]  J. Brigham,et al.  College Students’ Racial Attitudes , 1993 .

[17]  E. Harmon-Jones,et al.  State anger and prefrontal brain activity: evidence that insult-related relative left-prefrontal activation is associated with experienced anger and aggression. , 2001, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[18]  Dennis J.L.G. Schutter,et al.  From Affective Valence to Motivational Direction , 2006, Psychological science.

[19]  John J. B. Allen,et al.  Anger and frontal brain activity: EEG asymmetry consistent with approach motivation despite negative affective valence. , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[20]  E. Harmon-Jones.  Contributions from research on anger and cognitive dissonance to understanding the motivational functions of asymmetrical frontal brain activity , 2004, Biological Psychology.

[21]  Ettore Lettich,et al.  Ten Percent Electrode System for Topographic Studies of Spontaneous and Evoked EEG Activities , 1985 .

[22]  P. Putman,et al.  Emotional stroop performance for masked angry faces: it's BAS, not BIS. , 2004, Emotion.

[23]  P. Lang.  International Affective Picture System (IAPS) : Technical Manual and Affective Ratings , 1995 .

[24]  N. Fox,et al.  If it's not left, it's right. Electroencephalograph asymmetry and the development of emotion. , 1991, The American psychologist.

[25]  D. Hagemann,et al.  Individual differences in anterior EEG asymmetry: methodological problems and solutions , 2004, Biological Psychology.

[26]  P. Ekman,et al.  Voluntary Smiling Changes Regional Brain Activity , 1993 .

[27]  S. Uijtdehaage,et al.  Assessing the accuracy of topographic EEG mapping for determining local brain function. , 1998, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[28]  John J. B. Allen,et al.  Frontal EEG asymmetry as a moderator and mediator of emotion , 2004, Biological Psychology.

[29]  E. Harmon-Jones,et al.  Anger, coping, and frontal cortical activity: The effect of coping potential on anger-induced left frontal activity , 2003, Cognition & emotion.

[30]  C. Carver,et al.  Negative affects deriving from the behavioral approach system. , 2004, Emotion.

[31]  T. Mexia,et al.  Author ' s personal copy , 2009 .

[32]  Brad J. Bushman,et al.  Individual Differences in the Extent and Development of Aggressive Cognitive-Associative Networks , 1996 .

[33]  E. Harmon-Jones.  On the relationship of frontal brain activity and anger: Examining the role of attitude toward anger , 2004 .

[34]  D. Cohen,et al.  Attention to anger-relevant and irrelevant stimuli following naturalistic insult , 1997 .

[35]  Richard J. Davidson,et al.  The functional neuroimaging of human emotion: Asymmetric contributions of cortical and subcortical circuitry. , 2003 .

[36]  L. Berkowitz.  Towards a general theory of anger and emotional aggression: Implications of the cognitive-neoassociationistic perspective for the analysis of anger and other emotions. , 1993 .

[37]  Reginald B. Adams,et al.  Emotional expressions forecast approach-avoidance behavior , 2006 .

[38]  G. Bower.  Mood and memory. , 1981, The American psychologist.

[39]  L. Berkowitz,et al.  On the formation and regulation of anger and aggression. A cognitive-neoassociationistic analysis. , 1990, The American psychologist.

[40]  E. Harmon-Jones.  Anger and the behavioral approach system , 2003 .

[41]  A. Buss,et al.  The aggression questionnaire. , 1992, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[42]  E. D. Haan,et al.  Laterality effects in selective attention to threat after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation at the prefrontal cortex in female subjects , 2000, Neuroscience Letters.

[43]  A. Lawrence,et al.  Functional neuroanatomy of emotions: A meta-analysis , 2003, Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience.

[44]  D. Lindsley,et al.  Chapter 1 – The Electroencephalogram: Autonomous Electrical Activity in Man and Animals , 1974 .

[45]  E. Harmon-Jones,et al.  Proneness to hypomania/mania symptoms or depression symptoms and asymmetrical frontal cortical responses to an anger-evoking event. , 2002, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[46]  Wendy Heller,et al.  The Neuropsychology of Emotion: Developmental Patterns and Implications for Psychopathology , 1990 .

[47]  Mark S. Cohen,et al.  Simultaneous EEG and fMRI of the alpha rhythm , 2002, Neuroreport.