Prefrontal brain electrical asymmetry predicts the evaluation of affective stimuli

Measures of left–right asymmetry in resting brain activity were derived from spectral estimates of electroencephalogram (EEG) a-band power density in 13 homologous scalp electrode pairs from 81 right-handed individuals (43 F) on two occasions separated by 6 weeks. At a third, later session, these individuals completed a cognitive task, comparing word-pairs that systematically differed in affective tone. For an extended series of paired-comparisons, the subject chose the one word-pair that ‘went together best’. Objectively, associative strength was comparable for both word-pairs. Individuals with relatively greater left-sided anterior frontal resting activity were more likely to select the more pleasant word-pair. Relations between word-pair selection and asymmetry in resting brain activity at central and posterior sites were not significant. © 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved