Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Emotional perception and neuroendocrine changes.

Maurizio Codispoti1, Gilberto Gerra, Ornella Montebarocci

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. maurizio@psibo.unibo.it

Psychophysiology
|February 28, 2004
PubMed
Summary

This study found that viewing pleasant and unpleasant pictures differently impacts stress hormones and prolactin. Unpleasant images increased stress hormones (ACTH, cortisol) and decreased prolactin, while pleasant images increased prolactin.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Perceptual Richness of Retrieval Cues Enhances Memory for Emotional and Neutral Natural Scenes.

Psychophysiology·2026
Same author

Satisfaction in human-DSS interaction is interactively modulated by broad DSS representations and single interactions.

Frontiers in artificial intelligence·2026
Same author

Distraction driven by reward history: Attentional capture and sequential effects.

Attention, perception & psychophysics·2026
Same author

The Role of Defense Mechanisms in Self-Injurious Behaviors: A Systematic Review.

Journal of clinical psychology·2026
Same author

Changes in aperiodic (1/<i>f</i> slope) activity during a picture-word interference task: Effects of congruency and sequence manipulations.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Peer Relationships and Psychosocial Difficulties in Adolescents: Evidence from a Clinical Pediatric Sample.

Journal of clinical medicine·2025

Area of Science:

  • Neuroendocrinology
  • Psychophysiology
  • Affective Science

Background:

  • Affective states significantly influence physiological responses.
  • Understanding neuroendocrine system's reaction to emotional stimuli is crucial for mental health research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate neuroendocrine modifications during affective states.
  • To determine if stimulus pleasantness differentially affects neuroendocrine responses.

Main Methods:

  • Compared effects of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures on plasma levels of catecholamines, ACTH, cortisol, and prolactin.
  • Ten male participants underwent three experimental sessions with counterbalanced stimuli presentation.
  • Subjective arousal ratings were collected for all stimuli.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Unpleasant stimuli (mutilated bodies) increased noradrenaline, cortisol, and ACTH levels, while decreasing prolactin.
  • Pleasant stimuli (erotic pictures) increased prolactin levels.
  • Both pleasant and unpleasant stimuli received similar high subjective arousal ratings, despite distinct neuroendocrine patterns.

Conclusions:

  • The neuroendocrine system exhibits selective responses to motivationally relevant affective pictures.
  • Stimulus valence (pleasantness vs. unpleasantness) critically modulates neuroendocrine output.
  • Findings contribute to understanding the psychobiology of emotion regulation.