Strange effects of emotions on the body

A new study demonstrates that different emotions affect our bodies in separate and distinctive ways.

Researchers from the University of Turku (Finland) have given 700 volunteers, both men and women, to watch movies and read to them stories to provoke certain emotions. Volunteers were then given sketches detailing every part of the human body, and were asked to mark the parts they felt increased or decreased in each emotional state.

Anger makes us feel "hot" and "hyperactive" hands.(Photo: Corbis)

The results are similar in every culture. For example, when angry, we often feel more at the head and hands than usual. According to experts, this may be because, subconsciously, we are getting ready for a confrontation or conflict.

Meanwhile, boredom has the opposite effect, making their arms and legs feel weaker. However, we are more aware of the operation of the chest and the heart.

Depression also makes us feel weak, while disgust or disgust is more clearly felt in the throat and digestive system. The team also found that love is "felt" directly in . the toes of people, while happiness filled the emotions in every corner of the body.

Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the researchers claim that such physical sensations can reinforce how we experience different emotions. According to them, decoding the subjective physical sensations associated with human emotions can help us better understand mood disorders, such as depression or anxiety.