Back to Search Start Over

The visual analysis of emotional actions

The visual analysis of emotional actions

Authors :
Toshihiko Matsuka
Kent D. Harber
Arieta Chouchourelou
Maggie Shiffrar
Source :
Social Neuroscience. 1:63-74
Publication Year :
2006
Publisher :
Informa UK Limited, 2006.

Abstract

Is the visual analysis of human actions modulated by the emotional content of those actions? This question is motivated by a consideration of the neuroanatomical connections between visual and emotional areas. Specifically, the superior temporal sulcus (STS), known to play a critical role in the visual detection of action, is extensively interconnected with the amygdala, a center for emotion processing. To the extent that amygdala activity influences STS activity, one would expect to find systematic differences in the visual detection of emotional actions. A series of psychophysical studies tested this prediction. Experiment 1 identified point-light walker movies that convincingly depicted five different emotional states: happiness, sadness, neutral, anger, and fear. In Experiment 2, participants performed a walker detection task with these movies. Detection performance was systematically modulated by the emotional content of the gaits. Participants demonstrated the greatest visual sensitivity to angry walkers. The results of Experiment 3 suggest that local velocity cues to anger may account for high false alarm rates to the presence of angry gaits. These results support the hypothesis that the visual analysis of human action depends upon emotion processes.

Details

ISSN :
17470927 and 17470919
Volume :
1
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Social Neuroscience
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....410f403353d6fb37e9d05fe6cd23cbd0
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1080/17470910600630599