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Updated: Feb 20, 2026
Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion
Published on: May 4, 2011
Causal brain-heart information transfer during visual emotional elicitation in healthy subjects: Preliminary
Insights
This study reveals how the brain influences heart activity during emotional experiences. We used Granger causality (GC) to show directional brain-to-heart and heart-to-brain communication during emotion processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cardiology
- Psychophysiology
Background:
- Complex heartbeat dynamics correlate with emotional states and brain activity.
- Brain regions are crucial for emotional processing and regulation via the vagus nerve.
- Directional brain-heart interactions during emotion elicitation remain largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate directional brain-heart dynamics during emotional states using Granger causality (GC).
- To explore how emotional stimuli (pleasant, unpleasant, neutral) modulate brain-heart interplay.
- To analyze information transfer between the brain and heart in healthy subjects.
Main Methods:
- Collected high-density electroencephalogram (EEG) and cardiovascular data from 22 healthy volunteers.
- Utilized inhomogeneous point-process models to estimate cardiovascular dynamics.
- Applied Granger causality (GC) to assess directional information flow between brain and heart signals.
- Analyzed EEG oscillations in the gamma band (30-45 Hz) for heart-to-brain communication.
Main Results:
- Brain-to-heart information transfer showed significant valence-dependent lateralization compared to resting states.
- Heart-to-brain information transfer in the gamma band differed between neutral and positive emotional stimuli.
- Specific directed pathways were identified from the heart to the prefrontal cortex during positive emotions.
Conclusions:
- This study provides novel insights into the directional communication between the brain and heart during emotional processing.
- Findings highlight the role of valence-dependent brain-to-heart pathways and specific gamma-band oscillations in heart-to-brain signaling.
- The results contribute to understanding the psychophysiological underpinnings of emotion regulation and brain-heart interactions.
Abstract:
Complex heartbeat dynamics is known to reflect subject's emotional state, thanks to numerous links to brain cortical and subcortical regions. Likewise, specific brain regions are deeply involved in vagally-mediated emotional processing and regulation. Nevertheless, although the brain-heart interplay has been studied during visual emotion elicitation, directional interactions have not been investigated so far. To fill this gap, in this study we investigate brain-heart dynamics during emotional elicitation in healthy subjects through measures of Granger causality (GC) between the two physiological systems. Data were gathered from 22 healthy volunteers who underwent pleasant/ unpleasant affective elicitation using pictures from the International Affective Picture System. Neutral emotional stimuli were elicited as well. High density electroencephalogram (EEG) signals were processed to obtain time-varying maps of cortical activation, whereas the associated instantaneous cardiovascular dynamics was estimated through inhomogeneous point-process models. Concerning the information transfer brain-to-heart, GE highlighted significant valence-dependent lateralization with respect to resting states. Furthermore, as a proof of concept, the study of heart-to-brain dynamics considering EEG oscillations in the γ band (30-45 Hz) highlighted differential information transfer between neutral and positive elicitations directed to the prefrontal cortex.
