Department or Program
Neuroscience
Abstract
Recent advancements in neuroscience have shown that rhythmic motor activity can reduce emotional arousal and support emotion regulation. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear; specifically, whether motor rhythm alone is sufficient to produce these effects. To investigate this question, I tested whether engaging in rhythmic hand movements affects emotional reactions to images from the Open Affective Standardized Image Set (OASIS). I conducted three separate experiments comparing participant ratings of images’ arousal and valence when stationary versus when performing a bimanual finger-tapping task. I recruited 110 participants from the Psychology 101 pool at Bates College and convenience sampling methods, between ages 18 and 41 years old. In Experiment 1, participants were divided into three groups (control, simple rhythm, and syncopated rhythm), and I observed evidence that rhythm performance may affect arousal ratings but not valence ratings. So, I conducted Experiment 2 as a follow-up study, simplifying the experimental design by dividing participants into only two groups: control and alternating rhythm. The results of Experiment 2 confirmed the evidence from Experiment 1, but over a limited range of valence ratings. Therefore, I conducted Experiment 3, replicating the procedures of Experiment 2, to evaluate whether my findings generalized to a broader range of valences. Altogether, my findings show that the performance of a bimanual rhythm flattens extreme arousal ratings without affecting valence ratings. This suggests that rhythm performance reduces the subjective intensity of emotional experience, consistent with my hypothesis that rhythmic body movements can contribute to emotional desensitization. This finding suggests that therapeutic approaches involving movements such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy may operate by affecting emotional arousal in response to traumatic memories while preserving subjective appraisals of the valence associated with those memories.
Level of Access
Restricted: Embargoed [Open Access After Expiration]
First Advisor
Kim, Olivia
Date of Graduation
5-2025
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
Recommended Citation
Sang, Alicia F., "Rhythmic Motor Execution Reduces Emotional Arousal" (2025). Honors Theses. 492.
https://scarab.bates.edu/honorstheses/492
Number of Pages
73
Components of Thesis
1 zip file. Contains 1 pdf file, 1 folder (contains 287 JPEG files and 1 csv file).
