Decoding affect in emotional body language: valence representation in the action observation network.

Humans are highly adept at inferring emotional states from body movements in social interactions. Nonetheless, it is under debate how this process is facilitated by neural activations across multiple brain regions. The specific contributions of various brain areas to the perception of valence in biological motion remain poorly understood, particularly those within the action observation network (AON) and those involved in processing emotional valence.

Decoding spatiotemporal features of emotional body language in social interactions.

How are emotions perceived through human body language in social interactions? This study used point-light displays of human interactions portraying emotional scenes (1) to examine quantitative intrapersonal kinematic and postural body configurations, (2) to calculate interaction-specific parameters of these interactions, and (3) to analyze how far both contribute to the perception of an emotion category (i.e. anger, sadness, happiness or affection) as well as to the perception of emotional valence.

When the timing is right: The link between temporal coupling in dyadic interactions and emotion recognition.

Affective states can be understood as dynamic interpersonal processes developing over time and space. When we observe emotional interactions performed by other individuals, our visual system anticipates how the action will unfold. Thus, it has been proposed that the process of emotion perception is not only a simulative but also a predictive process - a phenomenon described as interpersonal predictive coding.

Does co-presence affect the way we perceive and respond to emotional interactions?

This study compared how two virtual display conditions of human body expressions influenced explicit and implicit dimensions of emotion perception and response behavior in women and men. Two avatars displayed emotional interactions (angry, sad, affectionate, happy) in a "pictorial" condition depicting the emotional interactive partners on a screen within a virtual environment and a "visual" condition allowing participants to share space with the avatars, thereby enhancing co-presence and agency. Subsequently to stimulus presentation, explicit valence perception and response tendency (i.

Ischemia-Like Stress Conditions Stimulate Trophic Activities of Adipose-Derived Stromal/Stem Cells.

Adipose-derived stromal/stem cells (ASCs) have been shown to exert regenerative functions, which are mainly attributed to the secretion of trophic factors. Upon transplantation, ASCs are facing an ischemic environment characterized by oxygen and nutrient deprivation. However, current knowledge on the secretion capacity of ASCs under such conditions is limited.

Emotional expressivity of the observer mediates recognition of affective states from human body movements.

Research on human motion perception shows that people are highly adept at inferring emotional states from body movements. Yet, this process is mediated by a number of individual factors and experiences. Within this study, we tackle two questions.

Neural Underpinnings of the Perception of Emotional States Derived From Biological Human Motion: A Review of Neuroimaging Research.

Research on the perception of biological human motion shows that people are able to infer emotional states by observing body movements. This article reviews the methodology applied in fMRI research on the neural representation of such emotion perception. Specifically, we ask how different stimulus qualities of bodily expressions, individual emotional valence, and task instructions may affect the neural representation of an emotional scene.