- Author
- Marc Vidal (UGent) , Nádia Moura, Bavo Van Kerrebroeck (UGent) , Ana M. Aguilera, Tom Fritz (UGent) and Marc Leman (UGent)
- Organization
- Abstract
- Turbulence-like dynamics in brain activity have been proposed as a signature of systems operating near criticality, and may reflect changes in neuronal function associated with emotional states. In this paper, we hypothesize that motor behavior linked to emotional expression modulates turbulence, reflecting a shift towards more streamlined brain dynamics characteristic of emotional motor control. We assessed EEG turbulence in 30 healthy participants in a motor paradigm varying in both task demand and degree of emotionality. Conditions included singing, swaying, responding to a virtual conductor of variable expressivity, having your own body movements mirrored by a virtual agent, and combinations thereof. Results showed an inverse relation of turbulence intensity in the alpha range to both degree of movement and perceived level of task emotionality, which was also true for the high gamma range, but to a lesser extent. When factoring in task demand, the effect of level of emotionality in the alpha range deteriorated. This is physiological evidence for why physical arousal is likely to increase the level of perceived emotional engagement or even be misinterpreted as such. Our findings suggest high gamma activity is a more accurate indicator of emotionality during motor tasks and can be key to differentiating EEG signatures of emotional motor control, which has been shown to be partly autonomous from voluntary motor control.
- Keywords
- criticality, emotional motor control, functional data, immersive VR, mind–brain–body, multisensory processing, naturalistic neuroscience, MOTOR CORTEX, NETWORK, BRAIN, MODULATION, MUSIC, DISTRIBUTIONS, OSCILLATIONS, ALPHA, SONG
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01JY8M4TXY2EZTZX539HR438PH
- MLA
- Vidal, Marc, et al. “Modeling Emotional Arousal with Turbulence Measured by EEG.” PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, vol. 62, no. 6, 2025, doi:10.1111/psyp.70093.
- APA
- Vidal, M., Moura, N., Van Kerrebroeck, B., Aguilera, A. M., Fritz, T., & Leman, M. (2025). Modeling emotional arousal with turbulence measured by EEG. PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, 62(6). https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.70093
- Chicago author-date
- Vidal, Marc, Nádia Moura, Bavo Van Kerrebroeck, Ana M. Aguilera, Tom Fritz, and Marc Leman. 2025. “Modeling Emotional Arousal with Turbulence Measured by EEG.” PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY 62 (6). https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.70093.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Vidal, Marc, Nádia Moura, Bavo Van Kerrebroeck, Ana M. Aguilera, Tom Fritz, and Marc Leman. 2025. “Modeling Emotional Arousal with Turbulence Measured by EEG.” PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY 62 (6). doi:10.1111/psyp.70093.
- Vancouver
- 1.Vidal M, Moura N, Van Kerrebroeck B, Aguilera AM, Fritz T, Leman M. Modeling emotional arousal with turbulence measured by EEG. PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY. 2025;62(6).
- IEEE
- [1]M. Vidal, N. Moura, B. Van Kerrebroeck, A. M. Aguilera, T. Fritz, and M. Leman, “Modeling emotional arousal with turbulence measured by EEG,” PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, vol. 62, no. 6, 2025.
@article{01JY8M4TXY2EZTZX539HR438PH,
abstract = {{Turbulence-like dynamics in brain activity have been proposed as a signature of systems operating near criticality, and may reflect changes in neuronal function associated with emotional states. In this paper, we hypothesize that motor behavior linked to emotional expression modulates turbulence, reflecting a shift towards more streamlined brain dynamics characteristic of emotional motor control. We assessed EEG turbulence in 30 healthy participants in a motor paradigm varying in both task demand and degree of emotionality. Conditions included singing, swaying, responding to a virtual conductor of variable expressivity, having your own body movements mirrored by a virtual agent, and combinations thereof. Results showed an inverse relation of turbulence intensity in the alpha range to both degree of movement and perceived level of task emotionality, which was also true for the high gamma range, but to a lesser extent. When factoring in task demand, the effect of level of emotionality in the alpha range deteriorated. This is physiological evidence for why physical arousal is likely to increase the level of perceived emotional engagement or even be misinterpreted as such. Our findings suggest high gamma activity is a more accurate indicator of emotionality during motor tasks and can be key to differentiating EEG signatures of emotional motor control, which has been shown to be partly autonomous from voluntary motor control.}},
articleno = {{e70093}},
author = {{Vidal, Marc and Moura, Nádia and Van Kerrebroeck, Bavo and Aguilera, Ana M. and Fritz, Tom and Leman, Marc}},
issn = {{0048-5772}},
journal = {{PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY}},
keywords = {{criticality,emotional motor control,functional data,immersive VR,mind–brain–body,multisensory processing,naturalistic neuroscience,MOTOR CORTEX,NETWORK,BRAIN,MODULATION,MUSIC,DISTRIBUTIONS,OSCILLATIONS,ALPHA,SONG}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{6}},
pages = {{17}},
title = {{Modeling emotional arousal with turbulence measured by EEG}},
url = {{http://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.70093}},
volume = {{62}},
year = {{2025}},
}
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