Bilateral eye movements lead to a neutralization of affective state

Engaging in bilateral eye movements (EM) leads to increases in Stroop interference, improvements in episodic memory, and decreases in false memories in a converging semantic associates paradigm. These results are interpreted as reflecting EM-induced equalization of cortical activation and subsequent enhancement of interhemispheric interaction. Since increased right versus left hemisphere activation is associated with negative versus positive affect, respectively, it was hypothesized that EMs following a mood-induction procedure should result in neutralization of affect. Seventy three right-handed participants engaged in happy or sad mood induction procedures, providing mood ratings on a 1-9 scale, followed by 30 seconds of either bilateral EMs or, as a control, watching a dot change color repeatedly. Participants then supplied a second mood rating. Analyses of the Happy condition showed no mood differences after mood induction, with all participants yielding scores significantly happier than neutral. After administration of the visual condition, participants in the Colored Dot condition showed no change in mood. In the EM condition, however, participants showed a significant reduction in positive affect. Analyses of the Sad condition showed that the mood induction procedure failed, with participants reporting neutral moods after mood induction. Post hoc analyses of only those participants reporting sad moods after induction showed that participants in the EM condition exhibited a marginally greater neutralization of affect than in the Colored Dot condition. The results provide tentative support for the hypothesis that bilateral EMs result in neutralization of emotional states, reflecting an equalization of cortical activation in the left and right hemispheres.

Conference

English

Stephen D. Christman
P. Stieber

Christman, S. D., & Stieber, P. (2005, February). Bilateral eye movements lead to a neutralization of affective state. Poster presented at the 33rd Neuropsychological Society Conference, St. Louis, MO