Dynamics and diversity of heart rate responses to a disaster motion picture

Steiger, Bettina K.; Kegel, Lorena; Spirig, Esther; Jokeit, Hennric

doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2019.06.015

Cited by 19 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Consistent with our hypothesis, previous reports already show that emotional movies can synchronize the HR of viewers, even when watching the movie individually. 42,43 The present findings go beyond this previous literature in that this HR synchronization phenomenon is not specific to live experiences or emotional movies. Rather, it occurs with many narrative stimuli, as we demonstrated here with audio recordings of children’s stories or animated educational videos.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

“…During this evaluation, we performed several exams: clinical assessment, MRI, EEG, evoked response potential, and positron emission tomography. The state of consciousness is determined with some 61 behavioral assessments, using the Coma Recovery Scale-revised 43 - a score which allows differentiating between consciousness states: Coma (the patient does not open their eyes), Vegetative State (VS - Eye-opening, and alternance between wakefulness and sleep), Minimally Conscious State (MCS - the patient is able to follow their own face in the mirror or to follow a simple instruction) and Exit Minimally Conscious State (EMCS - patient can communicate with code). Among the 19 patients, we diagnosed 2 patients in coma, 8 VS patients, 8 MCS patients (7 MCS- and 1 MCS+) and 1 EMCS (see supplementary data for more details).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A few recent studies report a correlation of heart rate fluctuations across subjects watching the same movie at different times, and ascribe this to shared emotions elicited by the film. 42,43 Our conscious processing hypothesis predicts that this synchronization phenomenon will occur not just for the film, but more generally for narrative stimuli, that inter-subject correlation of heart rate will be modulated by attention, that it will correlate with cognitive performance, and more dramatically, that it will be reduced in patients with disorders of consciousness. We confirm these predictions in a series of four experiments and conclude that heart rate synchronization has the potential to become a marker of cognitive state in a clinical setting.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Conscious processing of narrative stimuli synchronizes heart rate between individuals

Pérez

Madsen

Banellis

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Heart rate has natural fluctuations that are typically ascribed to autonomic function. Recent evidence suggests that conscious processing can affect the timing of the heartbeat. We hypothesized that heart rate is modulated by conscious processing and therefore dependent on attentional focus. To test this we leverage the observation that neural processes can be synchronized between subjects by presenting an identical narrative stimulus. As predicted, we find significant inter-subject correlation of the heartbeat (ISC-HR) when subjects are presented with an auditory or audiovisual narrative. Consistent with the conscious processing hypothesis, we find that ISC-HR is reduced when subjects are distracted from the narrative, and that higher heart rate synchronization predicts better recall of the narrative. Finally, patients with disorders of consciousness who are listening to a story have lower ISC, as compared to healthy individuals, and that individual ISC-HR might predict a patients’ prognosis. We conclude that heart rate fluctuations are partially driven by conscious processing, depend on attentional state, and may represent a simple metric to assess conscious state in unresponsive patients.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Conscious processing of narrative stimuli synchronizes heart rate between individuals

Pérez

Madsen

Banellis

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The co-modulation observed here is surprising given the diversity of factors that have been previously proposed to underlie interpersonal physiological synchrony. Leaving out brain signals, this includes emotions (HR [5][6][7]11 ), arousal (HR 4,24 , head velocity 36 ), empathy (HR 6,8,23 , skin conductance 22 ), attention (eye movement 3 , HR 24,25 ), auditory features (HR and respiration 39,40 ) visual features (gaze position 41,42 ), physical movement (respiration 43,44 , HR 21 ), social interaction (HR 45 ), and more. We argue more generally, that cognitive processing of the stimulus is a minimum requirement to evoke any of these constructs in a viewer's mind, and indeed, it suffices to explain the attention and memory effect we observed, namely, without processing the information imparted in the stimulus it is not possible to recall this information, and distracting the viewer will disrupt processing and thus reduce inter-subject correlation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive processing of a common stimulus synchronizes brains, hearts, and eyes

Madsen

Parra

2021

Preprint

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Neural, physiological and behavioral signals synchronize between human subjects in a variety of settings. Multiple hypotheses have been proposed to explain this interpersonal synchrony, but there is no clarity under which conditions it arises, for which signals, or whether there is a common underlying mechanism. We hypothesized that similar cognitive processing of a shared stimulus is the source of interpersonal synchrony, measured here as inter-subject correlation. To test this we presented informative videos to participants in an attentive and distracted condition and subsequently measured information recall. Inter-subject correlation was observed for electro-encephalography, gaze position, pupil size and heart rate, but not respiration and head movements. The strength of correlation was co-modulated in the different signals, changed with attentional state, and predicted subsequent recall of information presented in the videos. There was robust within-subject coupling between brain, heart and eyes, but not respiration or head movements. The results suggest that inter-subject correlation is the result of similar cognitive processing and thus emerges only for those signals that exhibit a robust brain-body connection. While physiological and behavioral fluctuations may be driven by multiple features of the stimulus, correlation with other individuals is co-modulated by the level of attentional engagement with the stimulus.

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Weakened sympathetic response and lower parasympathetic activity in intimate partner violence perpetrators when empathizing: Influence of autonomous activation in affective approach and prosocial behavior

Comes‐Fayos,

Moreno,

Lila

et al. 2024

Aggressive Behavior

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The autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning has been proposed as a relevant method to characterize the therapeutic needs of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators. Nevertheless, research has neglected the influence of the ANS on socio‐affective functions in this population. The aim of the present study was to analyze the psychophysiological activity of IPV perpetrators (n = 52) compared to controls (n = 46) following an empathic induction task, performed through negative emotion‐eliciting videos. We employed two general ANS markers (heart rate [HR] and respiratory rate [RR]), two sympathetic‐related indexes (pre‐ejection period [PEP] and skin conductance level [SCL]) and a parasympathetic biomarker (respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]). Additionally, we explored the impact of psychophysiological activity on prosocial behavior using Hare's donation procedure. Compared to controls, IPV perpetrators reported lower HR and SCL following the task, as well as longer PEP, suggesting an attenuated sympathetic response to others' distress. No differences in the RSA response pattern were found, however, IPV perpetrators displayed lower overall RSA levels throughout the protocol, indicative of reduced parasympathetic activity. Besides, while no differences in prosocial performance were observed, greater sympathetic responses and overall parasympathetic activity predicted increased donations across the sample. Thus, a high sympathetic and parasympathetic activity might influence the occurrence of prosocial behavior. The present study provides further evidence supporting that IPV perpetrators cope differently with others' negative emotions. In line with this biopsychosocial perspective, insights are gained on the emotional processing of IPV perpetrators which, in turn, could contribute to improve IPV psychotherapeutic programs.

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Dynamics and diversity of heart rate responses to a disaster motion picture

Cited by 19 publications

References 57 publications

Conscious processing of narrative stimuli synchronizes heart rate between individuals

Conscious processing of narrative stimuli synchronizes heart rate between individuals

Cognitive processing of a common stimulus synchronizes brains, hearts, and eyes

Weakened sympathetic response and lower parasympathetic activity in intimate partner violence perpetrators when empathizing: Influence of autonomous activation in affective approach and prosocial behavior

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