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Towards the neurobiology of emotional body language

Abstract

People's faces show fear in many different circumstances. However, when people are terrified, as well as showing emotion, they run for cover. When we see a bodily expression of emotion, we immediately know what specific action is associated with a particular emotion, leaving little need for interpretation of the signal, as is the case for facial expressions. Research on emotional body language is rapidly emerging as a new field in cognitive and affective neuroscience. This article reviews how whole-body signals are automatically perceived and understood, and their role in emotional communication and decision-making.

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Figure 1: The fusiform gyrus and the amygdala show increased activation in response to bodily expressions of fear.
Figure 2: Recordings of the amplitude of the N170 waveform triggered by various stimuli.
Figure 3: Time course of face–body incongruence sensitivity.
Figure 4: The three interrelated brain networks involved in emotional body language.

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Acknowledgements

Preparation of this manuscript was partly funded by a grant from The Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) and by the MIND Foundation, the Martinos NMR-MGH Center, Harvard Medical School and Nederland Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO)-Dutch Science Foundation. I am very grateful to my collaborators in the joint studies reviewed here, to J. Van den Stock for assistance with the manuscript and to anonymous reviewers who provided valuable suggestions.

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de Gelder, B. Towards the neurobiology of emotional body language. Nat Rev Neurosci 7, 242–249 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1872

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