Difference in the Mechanism of Emotion in Japanese and Westerner

Abstract

The author found that cerebral hemisphere dominance of steady-state vowels as well as human emotional and natural sounds are different between the Japanese and the Westerner; the Japanese shows a verbal hemisphere dominance, while the Westerner shows a non-verbal hemisphere dominance. He brought forward the theory of mental structure and vowels stating that such a difference in the brain related to emotional activities forms the starting point of mental structure and culture. In this study the author confirmed the above hypothesis by emotional stimulation of human olfaction.

Emotion and autonomic nervous system activity in the Minangkabau of West Sumatra.

“…For example, self-reports of ANS responses were compared during embarrassment between Japanese and British college students (Edelmann & Iwawaki, 1987) and during anxiety-provoking situations between Japanese and Swedish teenagers (Magnusson, Stattin, & Saburo, 1983). Studies actually obtaining physiological measures included coinparison of urinary catecholamines in subgroups of Filipino-Americans who varied in their contact with urban Hawaiian culture (Brown, 1982); comparison of the skin conductance responses to a stressful film (Subincision) between Japanese college students, well-educated Japanese adults, and American college students (Lazarus, Opton, Tomita, & Kodama, 1966); and comparisons of Japanese and Western electrocortical responses to emotional sounds (Tsunoda, 1979). studied in a large number of settings; however, we were able to study only a single culture.…”

Does Hand Posture Affect the Reliability and Reproducibility of Measures of Brain Function?

“…We experienced problems with reproducibility in speech-and hearing-related physiological studies, and previous results indicated that volunteers' posture could affect the outcomes of physiological studies [5,10]. To resolve that, we asked the volunteers in our studies (including this study) to maintain the same posture during speech and hearing trials [4,10].…”

“…Among the 70 volunteers in that study, we found that 14 (20%) of them fell asleep or changed their posture (hands and legs) during their sessions. Other reports have also indicated that volunteers' posture without attention could affect the outcomes of physiological studies [5,6].Furthermore some reports suggested that it is necessary to standardize Research Koichi Tsunoda after those who had previously undergone facial or brain surgery were excluded. The group comprised 11 Japanese men (mean age 26.9 years and age range 23-32 years) and 19 Japanese women (mean age 28.4 years and age range 18-38 years).…”

Genes and psychology in the news

“…Cortical localization of psychological functions also differs in different cultural groups. Tsunoda (1973Tsunoda ( , 1979 reports the fascinating fact that in Japanese people, human sounds such as humming, laughter, cries, sighs, and snores, along with animal sounds and traditional Japanese instrumental music, are processed in the verbal-dominant hemisphere.…”