The psychophysiology of emotion Samuel Ron and Noam Amir Tel-Aviv University

Physiological response: The theory of physiology -- science The interpretation -- logical The measurement -- luck J. Mauntcasle

Autonomic nervous system involved in emotion: The autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays a critical role in emotion, producing visceral sensations that shape subjective emotional experience. The ANS is life support of the body. It has a regulatory function. Processes involved in the function: 1. Maintenance of optimal “baseline” (i.e., homeostasis), 2. Activation of bodily systems to support actions, 3. Deactivation of bodily systems when no needed.

1) Autonomic reactivity: Emotional activation: 1) Autonomic reactivity and 2) peripheral activation 1) Autonomic reactivity: Emotions are psychologically-physiological phenomena that represent adaptation to changing environmental. Psychologically, emotions alter attention, shift behaviors and activate networks in memory. Physiologically, emotions organize the responses of disparate biological systems (e.g., facial, muscular tone, voice tone) and ANS activity for optimal effective response.

2) Peripheral activation A typical activation starts with an external or internal stimuli. To evoke a response, a process takes place that matches the prototype stimuli to the receptor system (e.g., vocal, motor, autonomic). Peripheral activation might evoke a feedback that enhances the external or internal stimuli.

How is emotional expression manifested How is emotional expression manifested? Do we “feel” emotional expression that we express verbally? – Yes, we can. Can we refer to the emotion that we “feel” and express it verbally– Yes, we can. Do physiological expressed emotions and verbal expression correlate? – Not necessarily.

Why try to correlate physiological response and speech Why try to correlate physiological response and speech? - “Natural” interpretation, - Compatibility in sense interpretation (hearing and feeling), - Trustworthy. Why interpret “emotion” mainly by auditory percept? - Its easier.

Is the emotional action such as facial expression sufficient for producing subjective emotional expression? Sufficient but not necessarily. Does the face have the capacity to activate the ANS component as well? Yes. Conclusions: The degree of autonomic differentiation produced by voluntary facial action might be equivalent to that produced by initiating emotion in a more “conventional” way via recalling emotional memories.

Language of subjective emotional experience____________________ How do we evaluate subjective emotion? Exclusively in human language, self- report data. 1) The state of physiological arousal (e.g.,) will be labeled by a subject in terms of available cognitional states, 2) By manipulating the cognitional states, we can manipulate the feelings in diverse directions.

The primary ingredients of our subjective emotional experience are visceral and somatic; the accuracy of our self report is linked to visceral and somatic perception. The very language we use to talk about our emotions is replete with metaphors that translate emotional into the physiological response. The key issue is to evaluate the association between emotion and language.

Success depends on results repeatability: Environmental conditions (quite, comfortable seat, light intensity, room temperature), Eye conditions (open/closed), Electrode placement, 4. Instructions to the subject, 5. Mental set.

Emotion measured by peripheral variables (autonomic system): 1. Heart Rate (HR), 2. Electrodermal (EDR, GSR), 3. Electromyography (EMG), 4. Temperature, 5. Electroencephalography (EEG).

EEG types wave: Main “significance”: 1. Delta (1-3 c/s) Dysfunction 2. Theta (4-7 c/s) Emotion 3. Alpha (8-13 c/s) Stability, personality 4. Beta (> 13 c/s) Cognition

There are at least two physiological states linked to the same subjective emotional experience language but of different interpretation: The “participant”: subject takes part in the experience and feels the emotional event. Noticeable physiological response The “observer”: subject sees himself on the television taking part in the event. Little or no physiological response.

Recalled emotion - auditory and physiological response Recalled emotion - auditory and physiological response. The study conducted at the TA University: Subjects : 140 Recording time : 1 min/emotion. Recalled emotion : anger, fear, sadness, joy disgust. Physiol. Variables: EMG, GSR, Heart Rate, Temperature, speech. Language : Hebrew.