Emotions logical?
Jan. 13th, 2003 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheHow the brain processes emotions
Scientists have discovered how the brain processes emotionally charged information.
They have found that the left side of the brain alone appears to take responsibility for decoding the literal meaning of emotional messages.
But it seems that the brain's right hemisphere plays a role in assessing the tone in which the message is delivered - a concept known technically as prosody.
The findings are based on measuring how fast blood flows to the tissues of the brain.
[...] The researchers asked 36 participants, hooked up to ultrasound monitors, to identify the emotion conveyed in dozens of pre-recorded sentences.
The volunteers were asked either to focus on the actual meaning of the words, or on the emotion conveyed by how they were spoken.
Each sentences had just one of four basic emotional meanings (happy, sad, angry or afraid) or was neutral.
Actors spoke the sentences with either an emotional or neutral tone.
[...] The researchers found that when participants were asked to focus on the meaning of what was said blood flow velocity went up significantly on the left side of the brain.
But when attention was shifted to how it was said velocity also went up markedly on the right side of the brain.
However, it did not go down on the left - suggesting that both sides of the brain play a role in helping to label the emotions.
Scientists have discovered how the brain processes emotionally charged information.
They have found that the left side of the brain alone appears to take responsibility for decoding the literal meaning of emotional messages.
But it seems that the brain's right hemisphere plays a role in assessing the tone in which the message is delivered - a concept known technically as prosody.
The findings are based on measuring how fast blood flows to the tissues of the brain.
[...] The researchers asked 36 participants, hooked up to ultrasound monitors, to identify the emotion conveyed in dozens of pre-recorded sentences.
The volunteers were asked either to focus on the actual meaning of the words, or on the emotion conveyed by how they were spoken.
Each sentences had just one of four basic emotional meanings (happy, sad, angry or afraid) or was neutral.
Actors spoke the sentences with either an emotional or neutral tone.
[...] The researchers found that when participants were asked to focus on the meaning of what was said blood flow velocity went up significantly on the left side of the brain.
But when attention was shifted to how it was said velocity also went up markedly on the right side of the brain.
However, it did not go down on the left - suggesting that both sides of the brain play a role in helping to label the emotions.