Autonomic nervous system activity in emotion: A review

• Published in: Biological psychology Vol. 84; no. 3; pp. 394 - 421
• Main Author: Kreibig, Sylvia D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.07.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Autonomic nervous system; Autonomic Nervous System - physiology; Autonomic response organization; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Cardiovascular system; Electrodermal system; Emotion; Emotional response specificity; Emotions - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Respiratory system; Emotional response specificity; Cardiovascular system; Autonomic nervous system; Electrodermal system; Emotion; Autonomic response organization; Respiratory system; Affect affectivity; Electrodermography; Emotion emotionality; Review; Response organization; Specificity
• ISSN: 0301-0511; 1873-6246; 1873-6246
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2010.03.010

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity is viewed as a major component of the emotion response in many recent theories of emotion. Positions on the degree of specificity of ANS activation in emotion, however, greatly diverge, ranging from undifferentiated arousal, over acknowledgment of strong response idiosyncrasies, to highly specific predictions of autonomic response patterns for certain emotions. A review of 134 publications that report experimental investigations of emotional effects on peripheral physiological responding in healthy individuals suggests considerable ANS response specificity in emotion when considering subtypes of distinct emotions. The importance of sound terminology of investigated affective states as well as of choice of physiological measures in assessing ANS reactivity is discussed.