The facial pattern of disgust, appetence, excited joy and relaxed joy: an improved facial EMG study.
The purpose of the study was to investigate the facial muscle pattern of disgust in comparison to appetence and joy, using an improved facial EMG method. We analyzed the activity of nine facial muscles in forty healthy subjects. The subject group was randomly divided into two groups (oversaturated vs. hungry) of ten women and ten men each. Four different emotions (disgust, appetence, excited-joy and relaxed-joy) were induced by showing pictures from the IAPS. Pre-visible facial muscle activity was measured with a new facial EMG. A Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was established. Disgust is represented by a specific facial muscle pattern involving M.corrugator and M.orbicularis oculi, clearly distinguishing it from the facial patterns of appetence and joy. The intensity of disgust is stronger in a state of hunger than under oversaturation and is altogether stronger in females than in males. Our findings indicate the possibility to explore the entire emotion system successfully through a state-of-the-art psychophysiological method like our EMG device.
Wolf
Karsten
K
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. k.wolf@uke.uni-hamburg.de
Mass
Reinhard
R
Ingenbleek
Thomas
T
Kiefer
Falk
F
Naber
Dieter
D
Wiedemann
Klaus
K
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D004576:Electromyography / Q000295:instrumentation; D005149:Facial Expression; D005152:Facial Muscles / Q000502:physiology; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D012063:Relaxation; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires