Associations among positive mood, brain, and cardiovascular activities in an affectively positive situation

Abstract It is hypothesized that experiencing positive emotions such as pleasure leads to a perception of the body being in a positive state. This study demonstrated associations among positive mood, brain, and cardiovascular activities by simultaneously recording these activities when positive emot...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain research 2009-03, Vol.1263, p.93-103
Main Authors: Matsunaga, Masahiro, Isowa, Tokiko, Kimura, Kenta, Miyakoshi, Makoto, Kanayama, Noriaki, Murakami, Hiroki, Fukuyama, Seisuke, Shinoda, Jun, Yamada, Jitsuhiro, Konagaya, Toshihiro, Kaneko, Hiroshi, Ohira, Hideki
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Affect - physiology
Analysis of Variance
Anatomical correlates of behavior
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain - diagnostic imaging
Brain - physiology
Brain Mapping
Emotions - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Heart Rate
Heart rate variability
Humans
Interoceptive awareness
Male
Neurology
Positive emotion
Positron emission tomography
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Young Adult
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Summary:Abstract It is hypothesized that experiencing positive emotions such as pleasure leads to a perception of the body being in a positive state. This study demonstrated associations among positive mood, brain, and cardiovascular activities by simultaneously recording these activities when positive emotions were evoked in participants watching films revolving around a love story. Heart rate variability analysis revealed increased parasympathetic nervous activity while watching the film. The following brain regions were significantly activated in the positive condition relative to the control condition: medial prefrontal cortex, thalamus, superior temporal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, and cerebellum. Further, covariate analyses indicated that these brain regions were temporally associated with subjective positive mood. Activities of brain regions considered to be related to interoceptive awareness, such as the insular cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala, and orbitofrontal cortex, were also temporally associated with the cardiovascular change. These results suggest that while an individual experiences positive emotions, activities of the central nervous system and cardiovascular system may be interrelated, and the brain may perceive the body to be in a positive state.
ISSN:0006-8993
1872-6240
DOI:10.1016/j.brainres.2009.01.027