Neurophysiological correlates of induced discrete emotions in humans: an individual analysis
Aftanas, L.I.; Reva, N.V.; Savotina, L.N.; Makhnev, V.P.
Rossiiskii Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal Imeni I.M. Sechenova 90(12): 1457-1471
2004
ISSN/ISBN: 0869-8139 PMID: 15724458 Document Number: 569856
The present study addressed EEG pattering during experimentally manipulated emotion. Film clips previously shown to induce happiness,joy, anger, disgust, fear/anxiety, sadness, as well as neutral control films, were presented to 30 university students while a 62-channel EEG was recorded, and a self-reported effect was described. Analyses revealed both emotion-specific and emotion-unspecific EEG pattering for the emotions under study. Induced positive and negative emotions were accompanied by hemispheric activation asymmetries in theta-2, alpha-2, and beta-1 EEG frequency bands. Emotions of joy and disgust induced lateralized a theta-2 power increase in anterior-temporal and frontal regions of the left hemisphere reflecting involvement of cognitive mechanisms in the emotional processing. Negative emotions of disgust and fear/anxiety were characterized by alpha-2 and beta-1 desynchronization of the right temporal-parietal cortex, suggesting its involvement in modulation of the emotion-related arousal.