Relationship Between Automatic Nerve Activity And Emotion Experience, Personality Trait On Fear Elicitation

The complex relationship between autonomic nerve activity and emotion was an old topic in psychology. It was also the key that we studied physiological mechanisms of emotion and explained the roles of psychosocial factors in psychosomatic diseases. Because of lack in measuring directly autonomic nerve activity, the majority of previous researches assessed indirectly autonomic nerve activity by the indices reflected the activities of visceral organs, such as skip temperature, skin conduction, heart rate, blood pressure,etc. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) has become a new methods of measuring directly autonomic nerve activity nowadays. In the research we provided a new quantitative assessment method of autonomic nerve activity based on HRV, and investigated the complex relationship between autonomic nerve activity and fear experience, personalit traits in healthy males in condition of fear elicitation. There are two studies and four experiments in this paper.Study1explored the relationship between autonomic nerve activity and fear experience in condition of fear elicitation. Expt.1&Expt.2elicited fear respectively by passive emotion elicitation and initiative emotion elicitation. All participants were recorded skip temperature, skin conduction, heart rate,LF,HF and LF/HF during baseline and task periods. We explored the relationship between autonomic nerve activity and fear experience from separate physical variables and different response modes of autonomic nerve system.Study2explored the relationship between autonomic nerve activity and trait anxiety, A-B behavior pattern and traits in condition of fear elicitation. Expt.3&Expt.4elicited stress reaction by computer game, and explored respectively high trait anxiety and low trait anxiety, the type A and type B, the high TH group and low TH group, and also the high CH group and low CH group, to see the differences from separate physical indices and different response modes of autonomic nerve system between each two groups.In these researches we found following results.1.It was proved that the new quantitative assessment method of autonomic nerve activity based on HRV was viable. High synchronous types corresponded to the Nonreciprocal Modes, and low synchronous types corresponded to the reciprocal modes and uncoupled modes.2. Intensity of fear experience was related to different response mode of autonomic nerve system under passive emotion elicitation and initiative emotion elicitation, but not the same in separate physical variables. low synchronous type was greater than high synchronous type in fear intensity. It suggested also that three response mode represented sympathyovagal activity more than separate physical variables.3. Trait influenced significantly individual emotion experience in species and intensity.4. In healthy males, the effects of trait anxiety, AB behavior pattern and its partial traits upon autonomic functional activity are not significant, while the effect of emotional stress is direct and significant. It may increase the chances of long-term exposure to negative emotional stress upon individuals, and this cumulative effect will cause vagal dysfunction.