Anterior electroencephalographic asymmetry changes in elderly women in response to a pleasant and an unpleasant odor

Physiological Responses Induced by Pleasant Stimuli

“…As such, olfactory stimuli appear to be the most appropriate exogenous inputs for the investigation of physiological responses induced by pleasant stimuli per se. The finding of enhanced brain activity in the left frontal lobe with pleasant odorous stimuli in the present study converges with the results of previous studies (Kline et al, 2000;Van Toller et al, 1993). Moreover, our results support the hypothesis that visual stimulus-induced positive emotions are related with the left cerebral hemisphere (Davidson, 1992(Davidson, , 1982Tomarken et al, 1992).…”

“…Moreover, our results support the hypothesis that visual stimulus-induced positive emotions are related with the left cerebral hemisphere (Davidson, 1992(Davidson, , 1982Tomarken et al, 1992). Furthermore, unfavorable odor-stimulated unpleasant emotion appears to incrementally excite bilateral frontal regions of humans (Kim and Watanuki, 2003;Kline et al, 2000;Brauchli, 1995;Van Toller et al, 1993). Taken together, the data from EEG studies render possible assessments of exogenously stimuli to be interpreted as being pleasant or unpleasant by the brain.…”

Life Span Theory in Developmental Psychology

“…We only found one study of odor perception in older adults that showed that left frontal brain activation in response to pleasant stimuli was uncompromised. However, brain activity in response to unpleasant stimuli did not differ from that to neutral stimuli (Kline, Blackhart, Woodward, Williams, & Schwartz, 2000). This may imply that the right prefrontal cortex area undergoes stronger age-related losses in functioning than the left prefrontal area.…”

Emotion and executive functioning: The effect of normal mood states on fluency tasks

“…Furthermore, frontal asymmetries also have been found with traits such as sociability, which is associated with left frontal activation, and aggression, which is associated with right frontal activation (Harmon-Jones & Allen, 1998;Schmidt, 1999). Research also suggests that trait affect remains stable over time as resting anterior asymmetry tends to be associated with a style of emotional reaction that persists throughout the lifespan (Kline, Blackhart, Woodward, Williams, & Schwartz, 2000). Similarities between trait and state emotion asymmetries may occur because much of the neural circuitry involved in emotion remains relatively stable over time (Davidson, 2001b).…”

“…As previously mentioned, less is known about lateralization in emotion in older adults, although one study found that older women who smelled an odor and rated it more positively showed relatively greater left frontal activation compared to those who rated odors as more negative or neutral (Kline, Blackhart, Woodward, Williams, & Schwartz, 2000). Clearly, more data are needed to better understand if and how age-related reductions in asymmetry impact cognition and/or emotion.…”