Frontal asymmetries during rest is one of the most widely investigated forms of hemispheric asymmetries. It is often assessed by measuring asymmetry in EEG resting-state alpha activation. Alpha asymmetries have been associated with important psychological outcomes like wellbeing, depression and motivation.

Frontal asymmetries during rest is one of the most widely investigated forms of hemispheric asymmetries. It is often assessed by measuring asymmetry in EEG resting-state alpha activation. Alpha asymmetries have been associated with important psychological outcomes like wellbeing, depression and motivation. However, studies on the reliability of alpha asymmetries are sparse and often consist of small sample sizes. In our study, we investigate short-term reliability of frontal and parietal alpha asymmetry in a large sample of 370 participants. We find that both frontal and parietal alpha asymmetry show a good reliability, especially when eyes are closed during the resting state recording. We also find, that reliability differs between recording sites, with frontomedial electrodes showing lower reliability than frontlateral and parietal sites.
 

Metzen, D.; Genc, E.; Getzmann, S.; Larra, M.; Wascher, E. & Ocklenburg, S. (2021). Frontal and parietal EEG alpha asymmetry: A large-scale investigation of short-term reliability on distinct EEG systems. Brain Struct Funct. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-021-02399-1