The Neural Correlate Difference Between Positive and Negative Awe

Abstract

Awe is an emotional response to perceptually vast stimuli that transcend current frames of reference. Narrative and experimental work has characterized two distinct variants of awe: positive and negative; however, little is known about the structural neural basis associated with the differences of these two variants of awe. In this study, we investigated the structural neural basis of positive and negative awe underlying individual differences among 62 young healthy adults. Specifically, we assessed the association between regional gray matter volume (rGMV) and the two different variants of awe using the voxel-based morphometry (VBM). A partial correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between rGMV and behavioral positive and negative awe, while controlling for sex, age and total GMV. VBM indicated that positive awe was positively correlated with GMV in the precuneus, and negatively correlated with GMV in the left fusiform and the right calcarine. Negative awe was negatively correlated with GMV in the left and right insula, and the left superior temporal gyrus. These results provide a neural explanation for the differences of these two variants of awe.

Enhancing resilience: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of The Awe Project

“…Although awe is experienced primarily as a positive emotion, there can also be potential negative feelings associated with awe, such as fear, terror, and horror (Arcangeli et al, 2020;Bethelmy, & Corraliza, 2019;Chirico & Yaden, 2018;Guan et al, 2019). This paper, however, examines the positive aspects and benefits of awe.…”

Trait Respect Is Linked to Reduced Gray Matter Volume in the Anterior Temporal Lobe

“…For example, expert chess players have reduced GMV in the caudate nucleus, precuneus, and occipitotemporal junction (Duan et al, 2012;Hänggi et al, 2014), which are involved in the perception of chess piece positions and quick move generation (Wan et al, 2011). Further, the trait of social emotions, including empathy and awe, are associated with reduced GMV in several brain regions (Banissy et al, 2012;Guan et al, 2019). Notably, we observed that trait respect and empathic concern were associated with reduced GMV in the left ATL.…”

Performance in a task improves when subjects experience respect, rather than admiration, for those teaching them

“…These results suggest that experiencing ifu is involved in performance improvement. A variety of research on awe suggests that stimuli that are outside of one's viewpoint or experience arouse awe, which motivates one seek new information and update their views or knowledge [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]. Hence, participants who experienced ifu toward the lecturer in the video clip were likely to practice the tips explained by the lecturer and were motivated to improve their scores in the second exam.…”