GENDER DIFFERENCES IN BRAIN ACTIVITY DURING EXPOSURE TO EMOTIONAL FILM CLIPS: AN EEG STUDY

Authors

Orance MAHALDAR^1,*, Subhrangsu ADITYA^2,3

¹ Studies in Performing Arts & Media (S:PAM), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
² School of Bio-Science and Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
³ School of Cognitive Science, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India

ABSTRACT

This study investigates whether gender affects inter-channel EEG synchrony in adults while viewing emotional film clips. A 4-channel spontaneous EEG (prefrontal: Fp1, Fp2; and temporal: T3, T4) was recorded from 16 neurologically healthy students (eight male and eight female) during exposure to short duration film clips with different emotional stimuli. These particular EEG channels were chosen because emotion and cognition are processed mainly in the prefrontal lobe of brain and in the amygdale in the temporal lobe. The EEG signal was analysed in terms of inter-channel synchrony in relation to both time domain parameters (cross-correlation, cross-covariance), and frequency domain parameters (cross-spectral density, cross-coherence). Inter-channel EEG synchrony reflects the degree of synchronous activation (co-activation) of different brain regions, which is thought to be related to the cooperative processing by those brain areas for a common task. Our findings indicate a significant gender difference in the inter-channel EEG synchrony, which is more emphasized in the FF (Fp1, Fp2) channel pair. On average, females showed a greater contra-lateral (inter-hemispheric) prefrontal EEG symmetry compared to males. Additionally, in the classical multidimensional scaling domain, females presented a wider range of variation in the EEG response to emotional stimuli compared to males.

KEYWORDS: gender, emotion, film, electroencephalography (EEG), prefrontal

PAGES:29-53

doi:10.24193/cbb.2017.21.03

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