Frontal Alpha Asymmetry and Behavioral Inhibition and Activation Systems

Sammanfattning

Extensive research has been conducted on the relationship between brain activity and personality traits, and several theories propose a lateralization of specific personality qualities. A prominent model suggests frontal lateralization of motivational direction, specifically, the behavioral inhibition and activation systems (BIS/BAS), with greater right frontal activity linked to behavioral inhibition and greater left frontal activity linked to behavioral activation. Recent studies have presented contrasting findings in the absence of this correlation. With the present study I aimed to investigate the link between frontal lateralization and the BIS/BAS. I further examined the test-retest reliability of resting-state frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA), and of the BIS/BAS scale. Resting-state frontal EEG asymmetry and participants’ responses to the BIS/BAS scale were collected from University of Skövde students on multiple occasions. FAA were obtained from electrode sites F4-F3, F6-F5, and F8-F7 over three sessions, two weeks apart, along with BIS/BAS scores from the first and third sessions. Within-subject FAA showed variability over time, suggesting FAA to be a less reliable measure of personality traits. Only two out of the four BIS/BAS subscales demonstrated consistent scores, raising doubts about the reliability of using it to assess personality traits. BAS Drive correlated negatively with FAA, contrary to the expected direction, but no other significant correlation was observed between resting-state FAA and BIS/BAS. Verifying FAA as an indicator of BIS and BAS is important for drawing meaningful associations between them. Future research should consider employing a repeated measures design and a larger sample size to enhance the understanding of this relationship.