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. 1983 Sep 16;221(4616):1208-10.
doi: 10.1126/science.6612338.

Autonomic nervous system activity distinguishes among emotions

P Ekman, R W Levenson, W V Friesen

Autonomic nervous system activity distinguishes among emotions

P Ekman et al. Science. .

Abstract

Emotion-specific activity in the autonomic nervous system was generated by constructing facial prototypes of emotion muscle by muscle and by reliving past emotional experiences. The autonomic activity produced distinguished not only between positive and negative emotions, but also among negative emotions. This finding challenges emotion theories that have proposed autonomic activity to be undifferentiated or that have failed to address the implications of autonomic differentiation in emotion.

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