1992 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Biological functions of emotional processings under various environments: Is an emotional reaction postcognitive?
| Project/Area Number |
03451016
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
Psychology
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| Research Institution | Nagoya University |
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Principal Investigator |
KIDA Mitsuro Nagoya University Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Associate Professor, 環境医学研究所, 助教授 (80023654)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KOGA Kazuo Nagoya University, Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Associate Profe, 環境医学研究所, 助教授 (30089099)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1991 – 1992
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| Keywords | ERPs / Po component / Hypobaric hypoxia / Arousal level / Heart rate / Emotion |
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| Research Abstract |
Cognitive processings may not be the only consideration in processing a stimulus. The relationship between emotional and cognitive processings have been investigated in various manners. The characteristics of emotional processings were observed in event- related brain potentials (ERPs) when evoked by emotionally loaded visual stimuli under hypobaric hypoxia of simulated high altitudes. Main results were as follows:
Hypobaric hypoxia, decreasing in the level of cortical arousal, produced marked changes in heart rate for visual stimuli evoking negative feeling. While the P3 component of ERPs showed different changes in the amplitude depending on task requirements. The P3 magnitude decreased when the negative stimulus was presented during a cognitive task, conversely it increased when the identical stimulus was presented during a emotional task.
These findings suggest that there are at least two different processes underlying the P3 component: cognitive and emotional processings operate in a reciprocal manner depending on the level of cortical arousal. During hypobaric hypoxia a negative emotional process replaces cognitive one. Such role-sharing may be biologically meaningful in terms of survival.
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