Body Language: Embodied Perception of Emotion

List of abbreviations AMG = amygdala; almond-shaped nucleus in anterior temporal lobe EBA = extrastriate body area; brain area lying in temporal-occipital sulcus which is specifically involved in processing bodies EEG = electroencephalography; a method to measure electrical activity from the scalp related to cortical activity ERP = event-related potential; EEG waves time locked to specific stimuli FBA = fusiform body area; brain area in the fusiform gyrus that is specifically involved in processing bodies FFA = fusiform face area; brain area in the fusiform gyrus that is specifically involved in processing faces FG = fusiform gyrus; part of the temporal lobe that is involved in visual processing fMRI = functional magnetic resonance imaging; brain imaging method that measures the hemodynamic response (change in blood flow) related to neural activity in the brain hMT+/V5 = human motion area; brain area specifically processing movement 2 IOG = inferior occipital gyrus IFG = inferior frontal gyrus MEG = magnetoencephalography; a neuroimaging technique that measures magnetic fields produced by electrical activity in the brain N170 = ERP component originating from lateral occipitotemporal cortex specifically related to a late stage in the early visual encoding of faces OFA = occipital face area; brain area in inferior occipital gyrus known to be involved in face processing P1 = very early ERP component related to very early visual processing PET = positron emission tomography; brain imaging method whereby radioactive tracers are injected into the blood stream PM = premotor cortex STS = superior temporal sulcus; posterior part is involved in processing biological motion TPJ = temporo-parietal junction V1 = primary visual cortex INTRODUCTION In everyday life, we are continuously confronted with other people. How they behave and move around has a direct influence on us whether we are aware of it or not. In communication, we are generally focused on the face. For this reason, emotion research in the past has focused on faces. Also, facial expressions seem to have universal consistency. However, bodily expressions are just as well recognized as facial expressions, they can be seen from a distance and are from evolutionary perspective much older. Body language therefore has a high communicative role 3 albeit we are less aware of it. Models on facial expression processing might also work for understanding bodily expressions. Similar brain regions seem to get activated for both, but although faces show the mental states of people, body postures in …