The music-evoked emotion literature implicates many brain regions involved in emotional processing but is currently lacking a model that specifically explains how they temporally and dynamically interact to produce intensely pleasurable emotions. A conceptual model, The Dynamic Functional Capacity Theory (DFCT), is proposed that provides a foundation for the further understanding of how brain regions interact to produce intense intensely pleasurable emotions. The DFCT claims that brain regions mediating emotion and arousal regulation have a limited functional capacity that can be exceeded by intense stimuli. The prefrontal cortex is hypothesized to abruptly deactivate when this happens, resulting in the inhibitory release of sensory cortices, the limbic system, the reward-circuit, and the brainstem reticular activating system, causing 'unbridled' activation of these areas. This process produces extremely intense emotions. This theory may provide music-evoked emotion researchers and Music Therapy researchers a theoretical foundation for continued research and application and also to compliment current theories of emotion. / Ph. D.

From a neuropsychological perspective, hostile men have displayed dysregulation of right cerebral systems as evidenced through an exaggerated sympathetic stress response, with cardiovascular reactivity for blood pressure and heart rate. Altered right cerebral functioning, with hostility and anger, has been demonstrated within functional cerebral systems to include auditory (Demaree & Harrison, 1997), visual (Harrison & Gorelczenko, 1990; Herridge, Harrison, Mollet, & Shenal, 2003), somatosensory (Herridge, Harrison, & Demaree, 1997; Rhodes, Harrison, & Demaree, 2002), motor (Demaree, Higgins, Williamson, & Harrison, 2002) and premotor systems (Williamson & Harrison, 2003). Each of these studies has demonstrated cardiovascular reactivity (blood pressure and heart rates measures) concurrently with altered sensory or motor functional correlates of the right hemisphere. However, the neuropsychological mechanisms and functional regulation for the mobilization of glucose have not been examined. / Master of Science

Emotion regulation difficulty is commonly experienced by autistic adults and has been explored as a transdiagnostic mechanism contributing to anxiety and depression in autistic adults. Previous research has found that emotion regulation strategies and autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses involved in emotion regulation differ between autistic and non-autistic individuals. These findings highlight the role of the ANS as a measure of emotion regulation; however, this has not been studied in an autistic adult sample. The current study examined ANS activity, as measured by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), root mean square successive differences (rMSSD), and skin conductance level (SCL), and subjective ratings of valence and arousal at rest and while viewing emotional film clips and engaging in emotion regulation in autistic adults. The study consisted of 31 autistic and 31 non-autistic adults, matched on age, intellectual ability, sex, and race/ethnicity. Participants also self-reported their daily emotion regulation use via the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Results demonstrated group differences in baseline RSA and rMSSD, self-reported valence of viewing neutral and negative stimuli, and cognitive reappraisal used in daily life. There was also increased SCL and self-reported arousal and decreased self-reported valence to negative stimuli across the whole sample. Exploratory results also showed that SCL and self-reported arousal to negative stimuli were correlated for autistic participants, and that emotion regulation changed physiological and subjective experiences of negative emotion across the whole sample. Supplementary analyses explored the covarying role of co-occurring depression and anxiety and antidepressant use, and showed that these covariates may explain variance in some physiological and self-reported responses whereas in other models, they may suppress these changes. This study extends previous research on emotion regulation in daily life of autistic adults and is the first investigation that demonstrates how an objective measure, such as correlates of ANS, provides additional insight in emotion regulation in autistic adults beyond subjective ratings. This study is important insofar as it shows how emotion regulation strategies manifest in autistic adults and its implications for informing the use of emotion regulation treatment intervention. / Doctor of Philosophy / Autistic adults struggle to regulate their emotions which may contribute to their anxiety and depression. It is previously known that autistic people emotionally regulate differently than non-autistic people, and that their autonomic nervous system (ANS) reacts differently too. These differences may lead to information about how the ANS may measure emotion regulation, yet no one has ever studied this in autistic adults. Therefore, the following study examined ANS activity, as measured by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), root mean square successive differences (rMSSD), and skin conductance level (SCL), and self-reported ratings of positivity and excitement at rest and while watching emotional film clips and regulating their emotional responses in autistic adults. The study included 31 autistic and 31 non-autistic adults, who had similar age, intellectual ability, sex, and race/ethnicity. Participants also self-reported how often they emotionally regulated, specifically by changing their thoughts ("reappraisal") and keeping a blank face ("suppression") in their daily life using the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Based on this study, autistic adults had lower levels of RSA and rMSSD when they were watching a baseline video of swimming fish. They also rated lower levels of positivity when watching both neutral and negative themed film clips and shared that they used reappraisal less frequently in daily life than non-autistic adults. Everyone in the study showed increased SCL and rated lower levels of positivity when watching negative themed film clips. Also, autistic adults with higher SCL also felt greater levels of excitement when watching negative film clips. For everyone, regulating emotional experiences changed the body's responses (i.e., RSA, rMSSD, and SCL) and experiences of positivity and excitement when watching negative themed film clips. However, since having depression and anxiety and taking antidepressants may affect how participants emotionally regulate, additional analyses also explored the impact of these factors; these extra analyses found that some of the previously reported findings may be because of depression, anxiety, and antidepressants, rather than being autistic. Overall, this is the first study to explore the relationship between emotion regulation and autism in adults by looking at the ANS. It is important because it shows how autistic people emotionally regulate which can help experts design mental health treatments.

Emotionale Fähigkeiten wie das angemessene emotionale Reagieren auf relevante Ereignisse (Levenson, 1994) und die erfolgreiche Regulation ausgelösten Affekts (Gross, 1998) werden angenommen mit zunehmenden Alter zu steigen (Scheibe & Carstensen, 2010). Dieser Gewinn an emotionaler Kompetenz im Alter wird zum einen auf die mit dem Alter korrelierte Lebenserfahrung (Blanchard-Fields, 2007) und zum anderen auf die im Alter gestiegene Motivation zur Affektoptimierung (Carstensen, 2006) zurückgeführt. Im Alter können emotionale Fähigkeiten in bestimmten Kontexten verringert sein (Charles & Luong, 2013). Es wird angenommen, dass altersbezogene Einschränkungen der kognitiven Leistungsfähigkeit (Lindenberger & Baltes, 1997) sowie der Flexibilität des peripher-physiologischen Systems (Ong, Rothstein & Uchino, 2012) die erfolgreiche Bewältigung starker und anhaltender Belastungssituationen reduzieren (Charles, 2010). Erfolgreiche Emotionsregulation und angemessenes emotionales Erleben im Alter wird häufig mit einer Maximierung positiver Gefühle und einer Minimierung negativer Gefühle assoziiert (Carstensen & Mikels, 2005). Das Erleben negativen Affekts kann jedoch auch als adaptiv betrachtet werden (Labouvie-Vief, 2003), wobei sich die verschiedenen diskreten negativen Emotionen in ihrer altersspezifischen Salienz und Funktionalität unterscheiden können. Während Ärger die im jungen Erwachsenenalter relevanten Prozesse der Zielverfolgung und des Ressourcenaufbaus unterstützt, wird angenommen, dass Traurigkeit und Verachtung den im hohen Erwachsenenalter relevanten Prozessen der Zielablösung und Verlustbewältigung bzw. Verlustvermeidung dienen (Kunzmann, Kappes & Wrosch, 2014). In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden im Rahmen zweier experimenteller Studien mithilfe neu entwickelter negativ-komplexer Filmstimuli ältere Erwachsene (60 - 80 Jahre) und jüngere Erwachsene (20 - 30 Jahre) in ihrer Fähigkeit, mit belastenden Situationen emotional erfolgreich umzugehen, untersucht. In Studie I berichteten 41 Jüngere und 41 Ältere ihr subjektives Erleben an dimensionalen und diskreten Affekt. Es zeigte sich, dass Ältere im Vergleich zu Jüngeren generell mehr negativen Affekt und weniger positiven Affekt empfanden. Hinsichtlich der diskreten Affektebene konnte das erwartete altersspezifische Reaktivitätsmuster festgestellt werden. Traurigkeit und Verachtung zeichneten sich durch eine größere Salienz für Ältere aus, während Ärger für Jüngere besonders salient war. Der von den Älteren berichtete stärkere Anstieg an negativem Affekt kann einerseits ein altersspezifisches Emotionsregulationsdefizit im Umgang mit negativ-komplexen Situationen darstellen, andererseits zeigt das altersspezifische Reaktivitätsmuster der diskreten Emotionen Ärger, Traurigkeit und Verachtung, dass Ältere durchaus in der Lage waren auf die in den Filmen dargebotenen Inhalte angemessen emotional zu reagieren. In Studie II wurden daher 51 Jüngere und 54 Ältere hinsichtlich ihrer Fähigkeit, negativen Affekt mithilfe der Regulationsstrategie positive Neubewertung zu reduzieren, direkt verglichen. Dabei erfolgte die Instruktion zur Emotionsregulation entweder zu Beginn des Films, wenn das emotionale Erregtheitsniveau noch niedrig war, oder zum Ende des Films, wenn das emotionale Erregtheitsniveau bereits stark gestiegen war. Es wurde angenommen, dass sich altersspezifische Emotionsregulationsdefizite vor allem bei hoch ausgelöster emotionaler Erregtheit zeigen sollten. Inkonsistent mit den Erwartungen wurden keine Altersunterschiede hinsichtlich des Emotionsregulationserfolges festgestellt. Beide Altersgruppen konnten im subjektiven Erleben den emotionalen Erregtheitsgrad reduzieren. Außerdem stieg die Anzahl positiver Gedanken und es verringerte sich die Anzahl negativer Gedanken. Allerdings zeigten sich weder für Jüngere noch für Ältere Regulationseffekte im subjektiven Erleben positiven und negativen Affekts sowie hinsichtlich der physiologischen Reaktivität. Das altersspezifische Reaktivitätsmuster in Bezug auf dimensionalen und diskreten Affekt aus Studie I konnte in Studie II repliziert werden. Es lässt sich demnach schlussfolgern, dass das verstärkte Erleben negativer Emotionen im Alter nicht zwangsläufig als Emotionsregulationsdefizit zu interpretieren ist, sondern eine angemessene emotionale Reaktion zur Bewältigung altersspezifischer Entwicklungsherausforderungen darstellt.

Serotonin (5-HT) has long been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression and anxiety, and the therapeutic effect of treatments. Several drugs useful in treatment produce either acute or neuroadaptive changes in 5-HT_2C receptor activity, and there has been growing interest in how alterations in the 5-HT_2C receptor might be important in mediating antidepressant and anxiolytic activity. The neuropsychological hypothesis of drug action implies that the clinical effects of medications active in anxiety and depression are best understood through the effects of these agents on the processing of emotional information. Thus far, however, there has been no systematic attempt to identify the role of the 5-HT_2C receptor in drug-induced changes in emotional processing in humans. The current research therefore investigated the effects of drug treatments with 5-HT_2C blocking properties on neural and behavioural responses to emotional information in healthy volunteers. An fMRI study demonstrated that a single dose of mirtazapine, an antidepressant with action at the 5-HT_2C receptor, reduces activation in regions important in emotional processing, such as the amygdala and the fusiform gyrus, to threat-relevant stimuli. A series of behavioural studies utilized drugs acting, at least in part, as 5-HT_2C antagonists and agonists to show that these drugs are able to alter emotional processing, particularly emotional memory. A seven-day administration of mirtazapine was shown to increase the recall of positive versus negative personality characteristics. A single dose of agomelatine, also an antidepressant with putative action at the 5-HT_2C receptor, did not increase slow wave sleep, suggesting, the drug had no effect of 5-HT_2C blockade in the brain. In Chapter 4, agomelatine and mCPP, a 5-HT_2C agonist, also shown to had no significant effect on emotional processing measures, but there was a statistical trend for agomelatine to increase memory for positive stimuli, and for mCPP to increase memory for negative stimuli. These findings suggest that antidepressants may work by altering the bias in emotional processing. Overall, the results of this exploration of the role of the 5-HT_2C receptor in emotional processing have contributed to the understanding of antidepressant treatment, and raise new possibilities for the continuation of study in this field.

Understanding others’ emotions and false beliefs, known as Theory of Mind (ToM), and to recognise and produce facial expressions of emotion has been linked to social competence. Deaf children born to hearing parents have commonly shown a deficit, or at best a delay in ToM. The emotion processing skills of deaf children are less clear. The main aims of this thesis were to clarify the ability of emotion recognition in deaf children, and to provide the first investigation in emotion production. While deaf children were poorer than hearing controls at recognising expressions of emotion in cartoon faces, a similar pattern was found in both groups’ recognition of real human faces of the six basic emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust and surprise). For deaf children, emotion recognition was better in dynamic rather than static, and intense rather than subtle, displays of emotion. With the exception of disgust, no differences in individual emotions were found, suggesting that the use of ecologically valid dynamic real faces facilitates deaf children’s emotion recognition. Deaf children’s ability to produce the six basic emotions was compared to hearing children by videoing voluntary encodings of facial expression elicited via verbal labels and emotion signed stories, and the imitation of dynamic displays of real facial expressions of emotion. With the exception of a poorer performance in imitation and the verbally elicited production of disgust, deaf children were consistently rated by human judges overall as producing more recognisable and intense expressions, suggesting that clarity and expressiveness may be important to deaf individuals’ emotion display rules. In line with previous studies, results showed a delay in passing the first and second order belief tasks in comparison to age matched controls, but not in comparison to a group of ‘age appropriate’ hearing control children. These findings encouragingly suggest that while deaf children of hearing parents show a delay in ToM and understanding disgust, emotion processing skills follow a broadly similar pattern of development to hearing control children. Language experience is implicated in difficulties faced in social and emotion cognition, with reduced opportunities to discuss more complex emotional and mental states.

In this paper, we present an analysis of the emotion-exchange patterns that arise from Twitter messages sent during emergency events. To this end, we performed a systematic structural analysis of the multiplex communication network that we derived from a data-set including more than 1.9 million tweets that have been sent during five recent shootings and terror events. In order to study the local communication structures that emerge as Twitter users directly exchange emotional messages, we propose the concept of emotion-exchangemotifs. Our findings suggest that emotion-exchange motifs which contain reciprocal edges (indicating online conversations) only emerge when users exchange messages that convey anger or fear, either in isolation or in any combination with another emotion. In contrast, the expression of sadness, disgust, surprise, as well as any positive emotion are rather characteristic for emotion-exchange motifs representing one-way communication patterns (instead of online conversations). Among other things, we also found that a higher structural similarity exists between pairs of network layers consisting of one high-arousal emotion and one low-arousal emotion, rather than pairs of network layers belonging to the same arousal dimension.

abstract: The present research expands on prior research that demonstrated a prototypical facial expression in response to cute, baby-like Kindchenschema targets. This expression, referred to as the tenderness expression, is recognizable to onlookers as a response to such stimuli. Across two studies, the current research examined if there were differences in perceptions of trustworthiness (Studies 1 and 2) and willingness to trust (Study 2) toward individuals displaying the tenderness expression as compared to a Duchenne smile or a neutral expression. Results indicate the tenderness expression is associated with lower ratings of trustworthiness relative to a smile, but no differences among the expressions on willingness to trust. Exploratory analyses demonstrate a replicated pattern of differences on the Big Five Personality Inventory among these three expressions. While these findings were not consistent with a priori hypotheses, this research provides further insight into the social implications associated with this tenderness expression. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2019

Negative affect plays a critical role in nicotine dependence. Smokers report feeling that negative affect is a primary motivation to keep smoking. This study examined the relationship between individual differences in emotional experience, in particular emotional clarity and differentiation (individuals' ability to understand, describe, and differentiate between emotions), and smoking motivation. We hypothesized that emotional clarity would be related to affect, craving, and smoking satisfaction. A second goal was to test the ability of an emotional-labeling intervention to reduce negative affect and smoking motivation resulting from a negative emotion induction. We also tested whether emotional clarity moderated the effect of the negative affect manipulation upon smoking-related variables. We hypothesized that emotional clarity would moderate the effect of the emotional-labeling manipulation upon affect, craving, and smoking satisfaction. A correlational and two-group between-subjects design was used. Participants (170 participants; 86 males) first completed baseline measures, then received a mood induction (via video). They then were randomized to one of two conditions (emotion labeling and writing control). Results indicate that emotional clarity was related to affect, craving, and smoking satisfaction ratings, such as those higher on emotional clarity reported more positive affect, less cravings, and having experienced aversive effects after smoking. We found no effect of the emotional labeling task. Although we replicated findings from previous studies showing a relationship between emotional clarity and mood, this study is the first to establish such a relationship with craving for a cigarette and aspects of smoking satisfaction.

Emotion conveys the psychological state of a person. It is expressed by a variety of physiological changes, such as changes in blood pressure, heart beat rate, degree of sweating, and can be manifested in shaking, changes in skin coloration, facial expression, and the acoustics of speech. This research focuses on the recognition of emotion conveyed in speech. There were three main objectives of this study. One was to examine the role played by the glottal source signal in the expression of emotional speech. The second was to investigate whether it can provide improved robustness in real-world situations and in noisy environments. This was achieved through testing in clear and various noisy conditions. Finally, the performance of glottal features was compared to diverse existing and newly introduced emotional feature domains. A novel glottal symmetry feature is proposed and automatically extracted from speech. The effectiveness of several inverse filtering methods in extracting the glottal signal from speech has been examined. Other than the glottal symmetry, two additional feature classes were tested for emotion recognition domains. They are the: Tonal and Break Indices (ToBI) of American English intonation, and Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) of the glottal signal. Three corpora were specifically designed for the task. The first two investigated the four emotions: Happy, Angry, Sad, and Neutral, and the third added Fear and Surprise in a six emotions recognition task. This work shows that the glottal signal carries valuable emotional information and using it for emotion recognition has many advantages over other conventional methods. For clean speech, in a four emotion recognition task using classical prosodic features achieved 89.67% recognition, ToBI combined with classical features, reached 84.75% recognition, while using glottal symmetry alone achieved 98.74%. For a six emotions task these three methods achieved 79.62%, 90.39% and 85.37% recognition rates, respectively. Using the glottal signal also provided greater classifier robustness under noisy conditions and distortion caused by low pass filtering. Specifically, for additive white Gaussian noise at SNR = 10 dB in the six emotion task the classical features and the classical with ToBI both failed to provide successful results; speech MFCC's achieved a recognition rate of 41.43% and glottal symmetry reached 59.29%. This work has shown that the glottal signal, and the glottal symmetry in particular, provides high class separation for both the four and six emotion cases. It is confidently surpassing the performance of all other features included in this investigation in noisy speech conditions and in most clean signal conditions.