WORD – Frisson 06-06-2017

ART AND ORGANISM

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the “DEEP” analysis:

PHYSIOLOGY of AFFECT & EMOTION

frisson

 

Frisson is a unique signal in humans indicating an emotional component to art-evoked feelings.

Piloerection is a unique signal reflecting an underlying emotional state.  Originally associated only with thermoregulation in birds and mammals because the pilomotor muscles at the base of hair or feathers is effective in maintaining a stable body temperature. It can occur, like other autonomic adjustments in anticipation of a stressful experience. It is also visible and thus available as a signal to communicate other stress-involved states such as fear, aggression, or courtship.  Its presence and visibility can become enhanced over evolutionary time (see RITUALIZATION) and even become detached in causation from its ancient thermoregulatory origins (“emancipated”).

COMPLEMENT this with DUENDE ( read A&O notes on spontaneity and passion)


EXCERPT from INTRODUCTION of article on piloerection & affect (Benedek and Kaernbach 2011)[i]

“According to most recent theories, human emotion is intrinsically tied to the concomitant activity of the autonomic nervous system. Empirical research has put forth an increasing number of indicators of physiological activity which are considered to be relevant for discriminating between specific subtypes of emotions (for a review, see Kreibig, 2010). One physiological indicator related to strong emotional experience is piloerection. In Charles Darwin’s seminal work on “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals” (1872), he already acknowledged that “hardly any expressive movement is so general as the involuntary erection of the hairs, feathers and other dermal appendages” (p. 95).

Piloerection, on the one hand, is known as a response to cold as a primary physical elicitor. In animals, the erection of coat hair or feathers serves to increase the isolation layer of air around the body. In humans, piloerection in response to cold is considered as a relic of the thermoregulatory response of our furred ancestors in evolution (Campbell, 1996). On the other hand, piloerection is also known as a response to strong psychological elicitors. In animals, it can be observed in states of anger or anxiety (Darwin, 1872), but it was also observed in the course of courtship of male chimpanzees (Nishida, 1997). In humans, the study of emotional piloerection (i.e., goose bumps) is tightly linked to the study of chills or thrills. [see frisson] While piloerection actually denotes the visible erection of body hair, the phenomenon of chills or thrills usually relates to a subjective experience. This subjective experience is sometimes described by the sensation of ‘shivers down the spine’ and it was found to be a necessary but not sufficient concomitant of visible piloerection (Craig, 2005). However, it should be noted that piloerection and chills are sometimes also found to be used interchangeably in the scientific literature. [and goose bumps]

According to self-report data, the most common psychological elicitors of piloerection or chills are moving music passages, or scenes in movies, plays or books (Goldstein, 1980). Other typical elicitors involve great beauty in nature or art, seeing or reading something heroic, nostalgic moments or physical contact with other persons. In empirical research, most attention has been drawn to chills or piloerection in response to music (e.g., Grewe et al., 2005; Panksepp, 1995; Zatorre, 2005). Some musical structures were identified to trigger chills more frequently than others. These structures involve crescendos, the violation of expectations (e.g., by unexpected harmonies), and the entry of a solo voice, a choir or an additional instrument (Grewe et al., 2007b; Guhn et al., 2007; Nagel et al., 2008; Panksepp, 1995; Sloboda, 1991). These effects are assumed to require active listening which involves directed attention and processes of cognitive appraisal (Grewe et al., 2007b). As a more general effect, familiar music pieces are reported to be more powerful in eliciting chills or piloerection than unfamiliar ones (Craig, 2005; Grewe et al., 2007a; Panksepp, 1995).” 

EXCERPT from DISCUSSION of article on piloerection & affect (Benedek and Kaernbach 2011)[i]

After considering specific alternative theories of frisson, affect Benedek and Kaernbach (2011)[ii] suggest that “…the emotional state marked by piloerection might be viewed to represent the state of being moved or touched, as suggested by the significant association of piloerection and self-report measures on the extent of being moved. The state of being moved or touched was conceptualized by Scherer and Zentner (2001) as being “accompanied by moist eyes, chills, thrills or gooseflesh” (p. 384) and exemplified by “tears shed during sentimental movies in the cinema or the flash of warmth experienced when hearing about a good deed.” (p. 384). Scherer and Zentner also noticed that in some languages such as English or French there does not exist a proper noun denominating the state of being moved, while it would correspond to the concepts of Rührung or Ergriffenheit in German. In line with the presented evidence, this description thus links the state of being moved not only to piloerection but also with physiological indicators of sadness. Similarly, Konečni (2005) assumes that the state of being moved or touched is commonly accompanied by the physiological responses of chills or thrills. In his model, being moved is considered subordinate to the emotional experience of awe. Konečni et al. (2007) again provided evidence that moving stories about heroic acts of selfless self-sacrifice are especially powerful elicitors of self-reported chills. At this, the negative-end stories elicited more chills than positive-end or neutral, but the stimuli at large were found to cause an improvement of mood. So there is evidence for a strong social component in the state of being moved, which has recently also been linked to empathy, intersubjectivity, and the activity of mirror neurons (Bråten, 2007). Moreover, such stimuli (e.g., self-sacrifice) probably elicit quite complex emotional experiences which cannot always be unambiguously attributed to either positive or negative valence (for examinations of emotional states involving mixed valence, see Cacioppo et al., 1999Carrera and Oceja, 2007Hemenover and Schimmack, 2007Larsen et al., 2001 ;  Larsen et al., 2009). This is especially evident for the concept of awe, which was conceived as a mixture of fear and joy ( Konečni, 2005 ;  Konečni, 2008). The state of being moved (either to tears or by awe) thus appears strongly related to sad or awe-inspiring experiences that still give us pleasure and that we like. And it is just these ambivalent emotional experiences that are commonly found to be indicated by piloerection.

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A much more extreme physiological response:  Can you experience too much beauty? Look in on STENDHAL SYNDROME (aka Jerusalem Syndrome).  


[i] Physiological correlates and emotional specificity of human piloerection  Mathias Benedek and Christian Kaernbach (2011)  Biol Psychol. 86(3): 320–329.  doi:  10.1016/j.biopsycho.2010.12.012   PMCID: PMC3061318   Author information  Article notes  Copyright and License information    This article has been cited by other articles:

Top of Form

Empathic Concern Is Part of a More General Communal Emotion  Janis H. Zickfeld, Thomas W. Schubert, Beate Seibt, Alan P. Fiske  Front Psychol. 2017; 8: 723. Published online 2017 May 10. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00723  PMCID: PMC5423947  Article PubReader PDF–803KCitation 

Two types of peak emotional responses to music: The psychophysiology of chills and tears Kazuma Mori, Makoto Iwanaga  Sci Rep. 2017; 7: 46063. Published online 2017 Apr 7. doi: 10.1038/srep46063  PMCID: PMC5384201 Article PubReader PDF–1.0MCitation

The Pleasure Evoked by Sad Music Is Mediated by Feelings of Being Moved  Jonna K. Vuoskoski, Tuomas Eerola  Front Psychol. 2017; 8: 439. Published online 2017 Mar 21. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00439  PMCID: PMC5359245  Article PubReader PDF–1014KCitation

Tears Falling on Goosebumps: Co-occurrence of Emotional Lacrimation and Emotional Piloerection Indicates a Psychophysiological Climax in Emotional Arousal  Eugen Wassiliwizky, Thomas Jacobsen, Jan Heinrich, Manuel Schneiderbauer, Winfried Menninghaus  Front Psychol. 2017; 8: 41. Published online 2017 Feb 7. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00041  PMCID: PMC5293808 Article PubReader PDF–737KCitation

Aesthetic Chills: Knowledge-Acquisition, Meaning-Making, and Aesthetic Emotions  Felix Schoeller, Leonid Perlovsky  Front Psychol. 2016; 7: 1093. Published online 2016 Aug 4. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01093  PMCID: PMC4973431  Article PubReader PDF–854KCitation

On the Origin of Interoception  Erik Ceunen, Johan W. S. Vlaeyen, Ilse Van Diest  Front Psychol. 2016; 7: 743. Published online 2016 May 23. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00743  PMCID: PMC4876111  Article PubReader PDF–615KCitation

The framing effect and skin conductance responses  Patrick Ring  Front Behav Neurosci. 2015; 9: 188. Published online 2015 Aug 5. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00188  PMCID: PMC4525055  Article PubReader PDF–454KCitation

Effects of Aesthetic Chills on a Cardiac Signature of Emotionality  Maria Sumpf, Sebastian Jentschke, Stefan Koelsch  PLoS One. 2015; 10(6): e0130117. Published online 2015 Jun 17. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130117  PMCID: PMC4470584  Article PubReader PDF–1.4MCitation

Towards a Psychological Construct of Being Moved  Winfried Menninghaus, Valentin Wagner, Julian Hanich, Eugen Wassiliwizky, Milena Kuehnast, Thomas Jacobsen  PLoS One. 2015; 10(6): e0128451. Published online 2015 Jun 4. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0128451  PMCID: PMC4456364  Article PubReader PDF–1.0MCitation

Being moved as one of the major aesthetic emotional states: A commentary on “Being moved: linguistic representation and conceptual structure”  Vladimir J. Konečni  Front Psychol. 2015; 6: 343. Published online 2015 Mar 31. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00343  PMCID: PMC4379734  Article PubReader PDF–194KCitation

Sensitivity towards Fear of Electric Shock in Passive Threat Situations  Patrick Ring, Christian Kaernbach  PLoS One. 2015; 10(3): e0120989. Published online 2015 Mar 27. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120989  PMCID: PMC4376384  Article PubReader PDF–416KCitation

Functional organization of autonomic neural pathways  Ian Gibbins  Organogenesis. 2013 Jul 1; 9(3): 169–175. Published online 2013 Jun 6. doi: 10.4161/org.25126  PMCID: PMC3896588  Article PubReader PDF–188KCitation  Bottom of Form

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[ii] Physiological correlates and emotional specificity of human piloerection  Mathias Benedek and Christian Kaernbach (2011)  Biol Psychol. 86(3): 320–329.  doi:  10.1016/j.biopsycho.2010.12.012   PMCID: PMC3061318   Author information  Article notes  Copyright and License information    This article has been cited by other articles:

Top of Form

Empathic Concern Is Part of a More General Communal Emotion  Janis H. Zickfeld, Thomas W. Schubert, Beate Seibt, Alan P. Fiske  Front Psychol. 2017; 8: 723. Published online 2017 May 10. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00723  PMCID: PMC5423947  Article PubReader PDF–803KCitation 

Two types of peak emotional responses to music: The psychophysiology of chills and tears Kazuma Mori, Makoto Iwanaga  Sci Rep. 2017; 7: 46063. Published online 2017 Apr 7. doi: 10.1038/srep46063  PMCID: PMC5384201 Article PubReader PDF–1.0MCitation

The Pleasure Evoked by Sad Music Is Mediated by Feelings of Being Moved  Jonna K. Vuoskoski, Tuomas Eerola  Front Psychol. 2017; 8: 439. Published online 2017 Mar 21. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00439  PMCID: PMC5359245  Article PubReader PDF–1014KCitation

Tears Falling on Goosebumps: Co-occurrence of Emotional Lacrimation and Emotional Piloerection Indicates a Psychophysiological Climax in Emotional Arousal  Eugen Wassiliwizky, Thomas Jacobsen, Jan Heinrich, Manuel Schneiderbauer, Winfried Menninghaus  Front Psychol. 2017; 8: 41. Published online 2017 Feb 7. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00041  PMCID: PMC5293808 Article PubReader PDF–737KCitation

Aesthetic Chills: Knowledge-Acquisition, Meaning-Making, and Aesthetic Emotions  Felix Schoeller, Leonid Perlovsky  Front Psychol. 2016; 7: 1093. Published online 2016 Aug 4. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01093  PMCID: PMC4973431  Article PubReader PDF–854KCitation

On the Origin of Interoception  Erik Ceunen, Johan W. S. Vlaeyen, Ilse Van Diest  Front Psychol. 2016; 7: 743. Published online 2016 May 23. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00743  PMCID: PMC4876111  Article PubReader PDF–615KCitation

The framing effect and skin conductance responses  Patrick Ring  Front Behav Neurosci. 2015; 9: 188. Published online 2015 Aug 5. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00188  PMCID: PMC4525055  Article PubReader PDF–454KCitation

Effects of Aesthetic Chills on a Cardiac Signature of Emotionality  Maria Sumpf, Sebastian Jentschke, Stefan Koelsch  PLoS One. 2015; 10(6): e0130117. Published online 2015 Jun 17. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130117  PMCID: PMC4470584  Article PubReader PDF–1.4MCitation

Towards a Psychological Construct of Being Moved  Winfried Menninghaus, Valentin Wagner, Julian Hanich, Eugen Wassiliwizky, Milena Kuehnast, Thomas Jacobsen  PLoS One. 2015; 10(6): e0128451. Published online 2015 Jun 4. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0128451  PMCID: PMC4456364  Article PubReader PDF–1.0MCitation

Being moved as one of the major aesthetic emotional states: A commentary on “Being moved: linguistic representation and conceptual structure”  Vladimir J. Konečni  Front Psychol. 2015; 6: 343. Published online 2015 Mar 31. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00343  PMCID: PMC4379734  Article PubReader PDF–194KCitation

Sensitivity towards Fear of Electric Shock in Passive Threat Situations  Patrick Ring, Christian Kaernbach  PLoS One. 2015; 10(3): e0120989. Published online 2015 Mar 27. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120989  PMCID: PMC4376384  Article PubReader PDF–416KCitation

Functional organization of autonomic neural pathways  Ian Gibbins  Organogenesis. 2013 Jul 1; 9(3): 169–175. Published online 2013 Jun 6. doi: 10.4161/org.25126  PMCID: PMC3896588  Article PubReader PDF–188KCitation  Bottom of Form

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[i] Physiological correlates and emotional specificity of human piloerection  Mathias Benedek and Christian Kaernbach (2011)  Biol Psychol. 86(3): 320–329.  doi:  10.1016/j.biopsycho.2010.12.012   PMCID: PMC3061318   Author information  Article notes  Copyright and License information    This article has been cited by other articles:

Top of Form

Empathic Concern Is Part of a More General Communal Emotion  Janis H. Zickfeld, Thomas W. Schubert, Beate Seibt, Alan P. Fiske  Front Psychol. 2017; 8: 723. Published online 2017 May 10. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00723  PMCID: PMC5423947  Article PubReader PDF–803KCitation 

Two types of peak emotional responses to music: The psychophysiology of chills and tears Kazuma Mori, Makoto Iwanaga  Sci Rep. 2017; 7: 46063. Published online 2017 Apr 7. doi: 10.1038/srep46063  PMCID: PMC5384201 Article PubReader PDF–1.0MCitation

The Pleasure Evoked by Sad Music Is Mediated by Feelings of Being Moved  Jonna K. Vuoskoski, Tuomas Eerola  Front Psychol. 2017; 8: 439. Published online 2017 Mar 21. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00439  PMCID: PMC5359245  Article PubReader PDF–1014KCitation

Tears Falling on Goosebumps: Co-occurrence of Emotional Lacrimation and Emotional Piloerection Indicates a Psychophysiological Climax in Emotional Arousal  Eugen Wassiliwizky, Thomas Jacobsen, Jan Heinrich, Manuel Schneiderbauer, Winfried Menninghaus  Front Psychol. 2017; 8: 41. Published online 2017 Feb 7. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00041  PMCID: PMC5293808 Article PubReader PDF–737KCitation

Aesthetic Chills: Knowledge-Acquisition, Meaning-Making, and Aesthetic Emotions  Felix Schoeller, Leonid Perlovsky  Front Psychol. 2016; 7: 1093. Published online 2016 Aug 4. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01093  PMCID: PMC4973431  Article PubReader PDF–854KCitation

On the Origin of Interoception  Erik Ceunen, Johan W. S. Vlaeyen, Ilse Van Diest  Front Psychol. 2016; 7: 743. Published online 2016 May 23. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00743  PMCID: PMC4876111  Article PubReader PDF–615KCitation

The framing effect and skin conductance responses  Patrick Ring  Front Behav Neurosci. 2015; 9: 188. Published online 2015 Aug 5. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00188  PMCID: PMC4525055  Article PubReader PDF–454KCitation

Effects of Aesthetic Chills on a Cardiac Signature of Emotionality  Maria Sumpf, Sebastian Jentschke, Stefan Koelsch  PLoS One. 2015; 10(6): e0130117. Published online 2015 Jun 17. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130117  PMCID: PMC4470584  Article PubReader PDF–1.4MCitation

Towards a Psychological Construct of Being Moved  Winfried Menninghaus, Valentin Wagner, Julian Hanich, Eugen Wassiliwizky, Milena Kuehnast, Thomas Jacobsen  PLoS One. 2015; 10(6): e0128451. Published online 2015 Jun 4. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0128451  PMCID: PMC4456364  Article PubReader PDF–1.0MCitation

Being moved as one of the major aesthetic emotional states: A commentary on “Being moved: linguistic representation and conceptual structure”  Vladimir J. Konečni  Front Psychol. 2015; 6: 343. Published online 2015 Mar 31. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00343  PMCID: PMC4379734  Article PubReader PDF–194KCitation

Sensitivity towards Fear of Electric Shock in Passive Threat Situations  Patrick Ring, Christian Kaernbach  PLoS One. 2015; 10(3): e0120989. Published online 2015 Mar 27. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120989  PMCID: PMC4376384  Article PubReader PDF–416KCitation

Functional organization of autonomic neural pathways  Ian Gibbins  Organogenesis. 2013 Jul 1; 9(3): 169–175. Published online 2013 Jun 6. doi: 10.4161/org.25126  PMCID: PMC3896588  Article PubReader PDF–188KCitation  Bottom of Form

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