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THE SCIENCE

NEURAL BASIS OF DISPOSITIONAL AWE

A 2018 study done by a group of researchers in China aimed to explore the neural correlates of dispositional awe using VBM analysis in healthy adults. Below is a an accumulation of findings pulled directly from their research article.

Participants:

  • 42 healthy university students: 22 males, 20 females around 20-years-old

Behavioral Assessments:

  • Dispositional Awe:

    • DPES (dispositional positive emotion scale) asses extent to which participants experience 7 positive emotions (joy, contentment, pride, love, compassion, amusement, and awe) in their daily lives.​

    • Participants in this study responded only to the dispositional awe subscales containing 6 items:

      1. "​I often feel awe"

      2. "I see beauty all around me"

      3. "I feel wonder almost every day"

      4. "I have many opportunities to see the beauty of nature"

      5. "I often look for patterns in objects around me"

      6. "I seek out experiences that challenge my understanding"

  • MR Imaging Data Acquisition:

    • Used anatomical imaging data

    • A 3D Magnetization-prepared rapid gradient-echo (3D MP-RAGE) sequence was used to obtain high-res T1-weighted anatomical images

  • Voxel-Based Morphometry (VBM)

    • MR images were processed using SPM8 (Statistical ​

TERM  KEY

Dispositional: individual characteristics that influence behavioral actions in a person (ex: personality traits, temperament, genetics)

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Voxel: A unit of graphic info that defines a point in 3D space (3D equivalent of a 2D pixel)

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VBM: Uses MRI to investigate focal differences in brain anatomy using the statistical approach of parametric mapping.

Parametric Mapping) on the MATLAB platform. Special processing included:

  • Screening images for abnormalities​

  • Segmenting the images into 3 classes using a unified segmentation approach: grey matter (GM), white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid. 

  • After the data was registered, normalized, modulated, and further refined, the modulated images were masked to get rid of noisy voxels

Results (based off of figures shown at right):

  • Figure 1: rGMV (regional grey mater volume) in the anterior cingulate cortex was negatively correlated with dispositional awe

    • ACC has been associated with complex cognitive functions such as emotion, impulse control, empathy, and decision-making, and is activated when a task requires effort for completion, ​especially with problem solving and during early learning stages 

  • Figure 2: rGMV in the middle/posterior cingulate cortex (MCC/PCC) was negatively correlated with dispositional awe

  • Figure 3: rGMV in middle temporal gyrus (MTG) was negatively correlated with dispositional awe

Discussion:

  • Brain regions mentioned above play an important role in processing dispositional awe.

  • Results provide initial evidence for the distinct neural substrates underlying dispositional awe.

  • Negative association between the rGMV in the ACC and dispositional awe is consistent with previous studies that have investigated the involvement of the ACC in cognitive conflict control, especially in regards to regulating behaviors that are adaptive to sudden change and critical for early learning.

  • Association between dispositional awe and the ACC could connect higher trait awe with embracing cognitive accommodation and new knowledge.

  • Experiencing awe leads people to shifting their awareness and attention away from typical concerns and towards larger entities and to diminish their individual self (vital for collaboration and cooperation in social groups).

  • Elevation (or moral awe) can provoke self-regulation and lead to altruistic or prosocial behaviors

Conclusion:

  • The findings demonstrate that individual differences in dispositional awe are associated with specific brain regions, including the ACC, MCC/PCC and MTG, associated with cognitive conflict control, conscious self-regulation, attention and socioemotional regulation.

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL

Beau Lotto and the Lab of Misfits - the world's only neuroscience-focused creative studio - teamed with Cirque du Soleil to study how audiences experience awe while watching some of the best artists in the world.

Cirque Test.jpg

Participants:

  • 282 Cirque ticket holders - split fairly evenly between men and women -  over 5 consecutive nights and 10 performances of O

  • 60 participants fitted with EEG (electroencephalogram) caps that measured neurological responses during the show

What happened with the 60 participants:

  • Reduced brain activity in the prefrontal cortex when audience members reported experiencing awe

    • Prefrontal cortex: associated with executive function - deciding intentions and acting on them​

  • Increased activity in the default mode neural network at the same time

    • Default mode neural network: linked with imaginative thought and memory, daydreaming and imagining

  • Afterwards, asymmetry emerged in the prefrontal cortex

    • "What it's correlated with is the desire to step forward... so you're losing yourself, you're becoming more divergent-thinking, and now you want to step forward." (Lotto)​

prefrontal cortex.jpg

Prefrontal Cortex

default mode neural network.jpg

Default Mode Neural Network

What happened with the rest of the participants:

  • Given a series of psychological questionnaires - half before the show, half after - asking them to self-asses their sense of awe eery few minutes before the show

    • First test: "Identification With All Humanity" - a scale developed to measure how close people feel to their communities and the rest of the world​

      • Those who reported experiencing awe felt closer to the rest of the world than those who didn't​

    • Balloon Analogue Risk Task - a test developed to measure tolerance of risk

      • Those who reported experiencing awe were much more tolerant of risk than those who didn't. They also reported a decreased need to feel correct and more openness to ambiguity.​

"Results were so correlated that they were “able to train an artificial neural network to predict whether or not people are experiencing awe to an accuracy of 75% on average with a max of 83%.”

Other results:

  • After the performance, more people were likely to respond positively when asked if they are someone who has a propensity to experience awe.

STUDIES

Figure 1
Figure 2
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FIG. 1

FIG. 2

FIG. 3

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