Approach the Good, Withdraw from the Bad—A Review on Frontal Alpha Asymmetry Measures in Applied Psychological Research

Basic research has established a strong relationship between stimulus induced human motivation for approach-related behavior and left-frontal electrophysiological activity in the alpha band, i.e. frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA). Since approach motivation is also of interest for various fields of applied research, several recent studies investigated the usefulness of FAA as a diagnostic tool of stimulus induced motivational changes. The present review introduces the theory and the methods commonly used in approach/ withdrawal motivation research, and summarizes work on applied FAA with a focus on product design, marketing, brain-computer communication and mental health studies, where approach motivation is of interest. Studies investigating and developing the application of FAA training in the treatment of affective disorders such as major depressive disorder and anxiety disorder are also introduced, highlighting some of the future possibilities.