ALPHA WAVE ASSYEMTRY IN THE FRONTAL REGION DURING THE EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE

The human brain exhibits distinct patterns of electrical activation in response to various stimuli—from sensory information to our most subtle feelings. These patterns have been used to demonstrate hemispheric differences in information processing, including the processing of abstract concepts like emotions. Frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) has been significant to studies focused around discovering the neurological basis of emotional processing. Alpha wave asymmetry is a measure of regional brain activity recorded using EEG devices. Emotions are believed to be lateralized, meaning that certain aspects of emotional processing appear to occur more dominantly processed in one hemisphere of the brain than the other. However, whether this applies to all emotions or only specific components remains uncertain. To address this, two prominent models have emerged in hemispheric asymmetry research: the Right Dominance Model and the Lateralization Valence Hypothesis. In addition to these, my research will also test the basis of the less-studied Emotion Type Hypothesis. The Right Dominance Theory suggests that all emotions are right lateralized. The Lateralization Valence Hypothesis suggests that negative emotions are right lateralized, and positive emotions are left lateralized. The Emotion Type Hypothesis suggests that primary emotions are right lateralized, and social emotions are left lateralized. The results did not demonstrate a correlation between the type of emotion (social versus primary or positive versus negative) and alpha wave asymmetry and therefore did not support the Emotion Type Hypothesis or Valence Hypothesis. Instead, all emotions were right lateralized regardless of type, which supports the core assumption of the Right Dominance Theory. The findings suggest that the Right Dominance Theory should be the leading theory of emotional asymmetry for future research.