See red? Turn pale? Unveiling emotions through cardiovascular and hemodynamic changes

Cardiodynamic and hemodynamic reactions to emotion-eliciting film sequences were investigated. Thirty-two healthy subjects (12 women, 20 men) were randomly assigned to one of two groups. In the first group, anger was induced using selected scenes of the film Ragtime. In the second group, scenes of the film The Shining were chosen to elicit fear. A documentary film was used as a baseline stimulus in both groups. EKG, impedance cardiography, and blood pressure were continuously monitored. The two emotional conditions elicited significant differential changes in subjective ratings and cardiovascular indices. Fear was associated with decreased cardiac output, increased total peripheral resistance, and a reduction in stroke volume and myocardial contractility. Anger was associated with an increase of cardiac output and small changes in total peripheral resistance. These results support the hypothesis that discrete emotions such as fear and anger elicit differential patterns of physiological responses.