scholarly journals The Paradox of Fiction Revisited—Improvised Fictional and Real-Life Social Rejections Evoke Associated and Relatively Similar Psychophysiological Responses

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1463
Author(s):  
Sirke Seppänen ◽  
Tapio Toivanen ◽  
Tommi Makkonen ◽  
Iiro P. Jääskeläinen ◽  
Kaisa Tiippana
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Facial Muscle ◽  
Psychophysiological Responses ◽  
Negative Valence ◽  
Alpha Asymmetry ◽  
Psychophysiological Reactivity ◽  
Eeg Alpha

Theatre-based practices, such as improvisation, are frequently applied to simulate everyday social interactions. Although the improvisational context is acknowledged as fictional, realistic emotions may emerge, a phenomenon labelled the ‘paradox of fiction’. This study investigated how manipulating the context (real-life versus fictional) modulates psychophysiological reactivity to social rejection during dyadic interactions. We measured psychophysiological responses elicited during real-life (interview) and fictional (improvisation exercises) social rejections. We analysed the heart rate (HR), skin conductance, facial muscle activity, and electrocortical activity (electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha asymmetry) of student teachers (N = 39) during various social rejections (devaluing, interrupting, nonverbal rejection). All social rejections evoked negative EEG alpha asymmetry, a measure reflecting behavioural withdrawal motivation. Psychophysiological responses during real-life and fictional rejections correlated, and rejection type modified the responses. When comparing responses across all rejection types, facial muscle activity and EEG alpha asymmetry did not differ between real-life and fictional rejections, whereas HR decelerated and skin conductance increased during fictional rejections. These findings demonstrate that regardless of cognitive awareness of fictionality, relatively subtle social rejections elicited psychophysiological reactivity indicating emotional arousal and negative valence. These findings provide novel, biological evidence for the application of theatre-based improvisation to studying experientially everyday social encounters.

EMG in Common Migraine: Changes in Absolute and Proportional EMG Levels During Real-Life Stress

Cephalalgia ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Plona Goudswaard ◽  
Jan Passchier ◽  
Jacobus F Orlebeke
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Muscle Tension ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Emg Activity ◽  
Experimental Stress ◽  
Facial Muscle ◽  
Long Duration ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Muscle Responses

The absolute and proportional EMG levels of the frontal, temporal, and corrugator muscles of 37 migraine patients and 37 matched controls were recorded during three experimental sessions: adaptation and real-life and experimental stress, both of long duration. Migraine patients did not show significantly different absolute EMG levels but had higher proportional EMG levels of the corrugator muscle than controls in each session. Migraine patients did not have different facial muscle responses to stress, and the two experimental groups reacted similarly to real-life and experimental stress. No relation was found between muscle activity and reported headache within 24 h after real-life stress. Increased EMG activity due to stress does not seem to be a significant cause of headache in common migraine as defined in this study, but rather a response to pain. Migraine patients with headache during stress showed lower muscle tension than patients without headache.

scholarly journals The Sensitivity of Physiological Measures to Phobic and Nonphobic Fear Intensity

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 154-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatjana Aue ◽  
Marie-Eve Hoeppli ◽  
Camille Piguet
Keyword(s):  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Physiological Measures ◽  
Facial Muscle ◽  
Amygdala Activation ◽  
Nervous System Activity ◽  
Fear Level ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Respiratory Responses

We investigated whether amygdala activation, autonomic responses, respiratory responses, and facial muscle activity (measured over the brow and cheek [fear grin] regions) are all sensitive to phobic versus nonphobic fear and, more importantly, whether effects in these variables vary as a function of both phobic and nonphobic fear intensity. Spider-phobic and comparably low spider-fearful control participants imagined encountering different animals and rated their subjective fear while their central and peripheral nervous system activity was measured. All measures included in our study were sensitive to variations in subjective fear, but were related to different ranges and positions on the subjective fear level continuum. Left amygdala activation, heart rate, and facial muscle activity over the cheek region captured fear intensity variations even within narrowly described regions on the fear level continuum (here within extremely low levels of fear and within considerable phobic fear). Skin conductance and facial muscle activity over the brow region did not capture fear intensity variations within low levels of fear: skin conductance mirrored only extreme levels of fear, and activity over the brow region distinguished phobic from nonphobic fear but also low-to-moderate and high phobic fear. Finally, respiratory measures distinguished phobic from nonphobic fear with no further differentiation within phobic and nonphobic fear. We conclude that a careful consideration of the measures to be used in an investigation and the population to be examined can be critical in order to obtain significant results.

Facial Muscle Activity: High-Sensitivity Noncontact Measurement Using Laser Doppler Vibrometry

2021 ◽  
Vol 70 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Sara Casaccia ◽  
Erik J. Sirevaag ◽  
Mark G. Frank ◽  
Joseph A. O'Sullivan ◽  
Lorenzo Scalise ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Activity ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Laser Doppler ◽  
Facial Muscle ◽  
Laser Doppler Vibrometry ◽  
Noncontact Measurement

Investigating models of affect: Relationships among EEG alpha asymmetry, depression, and anxiety.

Emotion ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 560-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Mathersul ◽  
Leanne M. Williams ◽  
Patrick J. Hopkinson ◽  
Andrew H. Kemp
Keyword(s):  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Alpha Asymmetry ◽  
Eeg Alpha

scholarly journals Physiological synchrony promotes cooperative success in real-life interactions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Behrens ◽  
J. A. Snijdewint ◽  
R. G. Moulder ◽  
E. Prochazkova ◽  
E. E. Sjak-Shie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Cooperative Behavior ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Dyadic Interaction ◽  
Gut Feelings ◽  
The Face ◽  
Social Decision Making ◽  
Conductance Level

AbstractCooperation is pivotal for society to flourish and prosper. To ease cooperation, humans express and read emotions and intentions via explicit signals or subtle reflections of arousal visible in the face. Evidence is accumulating that humans synchronize these nonverbal expressions, as well as the physiological mechanisms underlying them, potentially promoting cooperative behavior. The current study is designed to verify the existence of this putative linkage between synchrony and cooperation. To that extent, 152 participants played multiple rounds of the Prisoner’s Dilemma game in a naturalistic dyadic interaction setting. During one round of games they could see each other, and during a second round they could not. The results showed that when people’s heart rate and skin conductance level aligned, they cooperated more successfully. Interestingly, for skin conductance level synchrony to boost cooperation, face to face contact was essential. The effect of heart rate synchrony on cooperation was context independent. Skin conductance level, but not heart rate, tended to closely correlate with changes in pupil size and we discuss how the pupil might provide a window to partners’ sympathetic arousal. These findings show how unconscious mechanisms guide social behavior and emphasize the importance of studying social processes between rather than within individuals in real-life interactions.Significance StatementHuman cooperation is remarkable in its scale, complexity, and efficiency. However, whereas people think of themselves as rational agents, they actually partly base their decision to cooperate with someone on gut feelings. These feelings are informed by non-verbal expressions that are picked up implicitly and that synchronize across interaction partners. For the first time, we show that the alignment of people’s arousal over multiple rounds of the Prisoners’ dilemma game predicts cooperative success. Through synchrony, partners converge emotionally, fostering understanding and bonding, which are key ingredients when it comes to successful cooperation. This suggests that successfully cooperating does not depend on individuals, but on the connection between individuals, emphasizing the importance of studying social decision-making processes in real-life settings.

scholarly journals Three times NO: no relationship between frontal alpha asymmetry and depressive disorders in a multiverse analysis of three studies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Kołodziej ◽  
Mikołaj Magnuski ◽  
Anastasia Ruban ◽  
Aneta Brzezicka
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Analytical Approach ◽  
Depressive Disorders ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Alpha Oscillations ◽  
Alpha Asymmetry ◽  
Eeg Data ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
Frontal Alpha Asymmetry ◽  
Eeg Alpha

AbstractFor decades, the frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) - a disproportion in EEG alpha oscillations power between right and left frontal channels - has been one of the most popular measures of depressive disorders (DD) in electrophysiology studies. Patients with DD often manifest a left-sided FAA: relatively higher alpha power in the left versus right frontal lobe. Recently, however, multiple studies failed to confirm this effect, questioning its reproducibility. Our purpose is to thoroughly test the validity of FAA in depression by conducting a multiverse analysis - running many related analyses and testing the sensitivity of the effect to changes in the analytical approach - on data from three independent studies. Only two of the 81 analyses revealed significant results. We conclude the paper by discussing theoretical assumptions underlying the FAA and suggest a list of guidelines for improving and expanding the EEG data analysis in future FAA studies.

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