Peripheral physiological responses to subliminally presented negative affective stimuli: A systematic review

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychophysiology
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Negative affective information, even when not consciously perceived, can alter physiological responses.
• Increased peripheral physiological activity due to subliminal negative stimuli may play a role in disease development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review studies examining the physiological effects of subliminally presented negative affective stimuli in healthy individuals.
• To assess the impact of such stimuli on cardiovascular, electrodermal, electromyographical, hormonal, and immunological activity.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of 65 studies.
• Inclusion of studies presenting negative affective stimuli subliminally to healthy participants.
• Measurement of various physiological parameters including cardiovascular, electrodermal, electromyographical, hormonal, and immunological activity.

Main Results:

• 41% of tested contrasts showed significant increases in physiological activity in response to negative affective stimuli compared to controls.
• Effects were most prominent in fear-conditioning studies (skin conductance) and priming studies (systolic blood pressure).

Conclusions:

• Evidence suggests subliminally presented negative affective stimuli can induce adverse peripheral physiological changes.
• Methodological variations and limited contrasts per parameter necessitate further research to fully understand these effects.