The Moderation of EEG Asymmetry on Attention Bias Patterns by Attentional Control Capabilities in Early Childhood

Abstract

Frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry, attention biases to threat, and individual differences in attentional focusing have all been linked to socio-emotional behavior and the development of social information processing in children (Rothbart & Posner, 2006). Children with right frontal EEG asymmetry are generally found to be more socially withdrawn than children with left frontal EEG asymmetry, who tend to be more approach-oriented (Fox et al., 2008). A separate literature finds that children who preferentially direct their visual attention to threatening or negative stimuli in the environment are more withdrawn and anxious (Bar-Haim et al., 2007). Regulatory mechanisms, such as the ability to focus attention, may moderate reactive traits, such as EEG asymmetry and attention biases to threat (Rueda, Posner, & Rothbart, 2005). This study investigated the relation between psychophysiological (EEG asymmetry) and cognitive (attention bias) mechanisms of socio-emotional development as a function of individual differences in attentional focusing in a sample of 31 children (15 female).