Right frontal brain activity, cortisol, and withdrawal behavior in 6-month-old infants.

Abstract

Although several studies have examined anterior asymmetric brain electrical activity and cortisol in infants, children, and adults, the direct association between asymmetry and cortisol has not systematically been reported. In nonhuman primates, greater relative right anterior activation has been associated with higher cortisol levels. The current study examines the relation between frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry and cortisol (basal and reactive) and withdrawal-related behaviors (fear and sadness) in 6-month-old infants. As predicted, the authors found that higher basal and reactive cortisol levels were associated with extreme right EEG asymmetry. EEG during the withdrawal-negative affect task was associated with fear and sadness behaviors. Results are interpreted in the context of the previous primate work, and some putative mechanisms are discussed.

Anterior asymmetrical alpha activity predicts Iowa gambling performance: distinctly but reversed

“…Relative left-sided dominance was not only accompanied by lower levels of cortisol, but also by less extreme fearful defensive responses when provoked. More recently, Buss et al (2003) showed similar relationships in 6-month-old human infants, again relative right-sided dominance in frontal brain activity was associated with higher levels of cortisol and more fearful responsivity. Finally, evidence for a relative left-sided PFC dominance in reward and a relative right-sided dominance in punishment derived from the approach-withdrawal model was provided by Sobotka, Davidson, and Senulis (1992).…”

Association between frontal EEG asymmetries and emotional intelligence among adults

“…The reason why we anticipated that frontal asymmetries could be one of the neuroendocrine correlates of EI is that previous studies have provided converging evidence that frontal asymmetries were one of the determinants of emotion dispositions and behaviors (e.g., Allen, Harmon-Jones, & Cavender, 2001, see Davidson, 2004and Harmon-Jones, 2004, for reviews). For instance, subjects with increased relative left frontal activation experience more positive and less negative trait affectivity (Tomarken, Davidson, Wheeler, & Doss, 1992), recover faster following a negative event (Jackson et al, 2003), and exhibit lower levels of cortisol (e.g., Buss et al, 2003) as well as higher levels of immune responses (NK cells activity) at baseline and in response to challenge (Davidson, Coe, Dolski, & Donzella, 1999) than subjects with increased relative right frontal activation. In the same vein, hypoactivation of the left frontal cortex or hyperactivation of the right frontal cortex is associated with mood disorders (see Thibodeau, Jorgensen, & Kim, 2006 for a meta-analysis).…”

Fearful temperament and stress reactivity among preschool‐aged children

“…The role of temperamental fearfulness in individual differences in stress reactivity and regulation is of growing interest in developmental neuroscience (e.g., Buss et al, 2003;Kagan, Reznick, & Snidman, 1988) and biological psychiatry (Bakshi & Kalin, 2000;Smoller et al, 2005). This interest reflects an enhanced understanding of the neurobiology of both conditioned (LeDoux & Phelps, 2000) and unconditioned fear (Davis, Walker, & Lee, 1997) and belief that the distributed neural systems underlying acute expressions of fear also support more stable, temperamental variations in fearfulness (Rothbart, 1989).…”