The Body Action Coding System I: Muscle activations during the perception and expression of emotion

Body postures provide clear signals about emotional expressions, but so far it is not clear what muscle patterns are associated with specific emotions. This study lays the groundwork for a Body Action Coding System by investigating what combinations of muscles are used for emotional bodily expressio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social neuroscience 2014-05, Vol.9 (3), p.249-264
Main Authors: Huis in 't Veld, Elisabeth M. J., Van Boxtel, Geert J. M., de Gelder, Beatrice
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Affectivity. Emotion
Anger - physiology
Arm - physiology
Behavior
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Body
Electrophysiology
Emotion
Emotions
Emotions - physiology
Expression
Fear - physiology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Imitative Behavior - physiology
Male
Muscle, Skeletal - physiology
Muscles
Nonverbal communication
Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology
Perception
Perceptions
Personality. Affectivity
Photic Stimulation
Posture
Posture - physiology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Sensory perception
Shoulder - physiology
Surface EMG
Young Adult
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Summary:Body postures provide clear signals about emotional expressions, but so far it is not clear what muscle patterns are associated with specific emotions. This study lays the groundwork for a Body Action Coding System by investigating what combinations of muscles are used for emotional bodily expressions and assessing whether these muscles also automatically respond to the perception of emotional behavior. Surface electromyography of muscles in the arms (biceps and triceps) and shoulders (upper trapezius and deltoids) were measured during both active expression and passive viewing of fearful and angry bodily expressions. The biceps, deltoids, and triceps are recruited strongly for the expression of anger and fear expression predominantly depends on the biceps and the deltoids. During passive viewing, all muscles automatically activate during the passive viewing of anger. During fear perception, a clear activation can be seen in the trapezius, deltoid, and triceps muscles, whereas the biceps shows inhibition. In conclusion, this study provides more insight into the perception and expression of emotions in the body.
ISSN:1747-0919
1747-0927
DOI:10.1080/17470919.2014.890668