Heart Talk: Emotional Inner Speech Increases Heart Rate

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychophysiology
• Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

• Inner speech is a ubiquitous cognitive process.
• The physiological correlates of emotional inner speech remain underexplored.
• Previous research suggests links between emotion and physiological responses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the causal effect of emotional inner speech on heart rate.
• To compare the physiological impact of positive, negative, and neutral inner speech.
• To examine potential confounds such as movement and respiration.

Main Methods:

• Two preregistered experiments with participants (N=90) engaging in positive, negative, or counting inner speech while heart rate was monitored.
• Controlled for body movement using motion tracking.
• Analyzed median heart rate, considering movement and respiration rate as covariates.

Main Results:

• Emotional inner speech (positive or negative) significantly altered heart rate compared to neutral inner counting.
• No significant difference in heart rate effects was found between positive and negative emotional inner speech.
• The observed effect of emotional inner speech on heart rate was robust, independent of movement and respiration.

Conclusions:

• Emotional inner speech has a demonstrable causal effect on heart rate.
• Physiological responses to inner speech are primarily driven by emotional valence, not specific content.
• Further research should explore cognitive effort and inner speech rate as potential moderators.