Thermal Signatures of Emotional Arousal: A Functional Infrared Imaging Study

Abstract

Functional Infrared Imaging was used to study the facial thermal signatures of three fundamental emotional conditions: stress, fear and pleasure arousal. Facial cutaneous temperature and its topographic distribution exhibited specific features clearly correlated to emotional arousal and concomitant measures of standard physiological signals of the sympathetic activity. The results of this study indicate functional infrared imaging as an alternative, touch less, non invasive method for assessing individual's emotional arousal in psychophysiology.