Variation is the Norm: Brain State Dynamics Evoked by Emotional Video Clips

Ashutosh Singh, Christiana Westlin, Hedwig Eisenbarth, Elizabeth A.R. Losin, Jessica R. Andrews-Hanna, Tor D. Wager, Ajay B. Satpute, Lisa Feldman Barrett, Dana H. Brooks, Deniz Erdogmus

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

For the last several decades, emotion research has attempted to identify a biomarker or consistent pattern of brain activity to characterize a single category of emotion (e.g., fear) that will remain consistent across all instances of that category, regardless of individual and context. In this study, we investigated variation rather than consistency during emotional experiences while people watched video clips chosen to evoke instances of specific emotion categories. Specifically, we developed a sequential probabilistic approach to model the temporal dynamics in a participant's brain activity during video viewing. We characterized brain states during these clips as distinct state occupancy periods between state transitions in blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal patterns. We found substantial variation in the state occupancy probability distributions across individuals watching the same video, supporting the hypothesis that when it comes to the brain correlates of emotional experience, variation may indeed be the norm.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication43rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC 2021
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages6003-6007
Number of pages5
ISBN (Electronic)9781728111797
DOIs
StatePublished - 2021
Event43rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC 2021 - Virtual, Online, Mexico
Duration: Nov 1 2021Nov 5 2021

Publication series

NameProceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS
ISSN (Print)1557-170X

Conference

Conference43rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC 2021
Country/TerritoryMexico
CityVirtual, Online
Period11/1/2111/5/21

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Signal Processing
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
  • Health Informatics

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