Feelings are often associated with physical reactions: terror can send chills down your spine, and love can leave you weak in the knees.
A recent study has linked specific emotions to physical sensations. Researchers tested emotional responses in hundreds of subjects and then created maps identifying locations in the body where emotions cause physical changes.
Emotions originate in the brain but can manifest as physical feelings throughout the body such as “butterflies in the stomach” or “cold feet”. Find out more about why we have emotions here.
A 2014 study enlisted over 700 subjects to find out how accurately emotions could be linked to specific bodily sensations.
Researchers used stories, video, and pictures to provoke emotional responses in subjects, who then used a computer to record physical changes. Increased responses registered as warmer colors (red, orange), while decreased responses exhibited cooler shades (blue).
Certain emotions such as anger, fear, and disgust triggered strong sensations in the upper body.
Other emotions such as depression and sadness registered as diminished sensation in the lower body, while some emotions like shame combined both types of responses.
Mapping these physical changes could lead to new methods for understanding emotional processing and identifying mood disorders.
Interesting, but I do not understand how it helps in reading people.