When a person lies they suffer a
“Pinocchio effect”, which is an increase in the temperature around
the nose and in the orbital muscle in the inner corner of the eye.
In addition, when we perform a considerable mental effort our face
temperature drops and when we have an anxiety attack our face
temperature raises.
These are some of the conclusions drawn in this pioneer study
conducted at the University of Granada Department of Experimental
Psychology, which has introduced new applications of thermography.
Thermography is a technique based on
body temperature that is applied in many fields such as general
industry, the building industry and medicine. Thermographic cameras
have a wide range of uses such as measuring energy loss in
buildings, indicating respiratory diseases in bovine animals or
rabies in raccoons. Thermography was developed in the USA during the
II World War to detect the enemy (night vision).
The University of Granada researchers
Emilio Gómez Milán and Elvira Salazar López have been pioneers in
applying thermography to the field of Psychology, and they have
obtained very innovative and interesting results. Thus, sexual
excitement and desire can be identified in men and women using
thermography, since they induce an increase in chest and genital
temperature. This study demonstrates that –in physiological terms–
men and women get excited at the same time, even although women say
they are not excited or only slightly excited.
When we lie on our feelings, the
temperature around our nose raises and a brain element called
“insula” is activated. The insula is a component of the brain reward
system, and it only activates when we experience real feelings
(called “qualias”). The insula is involved in the detection and
regulation of body temperature. Therefore, there is a strong
negative correlation between insula activity and temperature
increase: the more active the insule (the greater the feeling) the
lower the temperature change, and viceversa, the researchers state.
Researchers also determined the thermal
footprint of aerobic exercise and different dance modalities such as
ballet. When a person is dancing flamenco the temperature in their
buttocks drops and increases in their forearms. That is the thermal
footprint of flamenco, and each dance modality has a specific
thermal footprint, professor Salazar explains.
The researchers have demonstrated that
temperature asymmetries in both sides of the body and local
temperature changes are associated with the physical, mental and
emotional status of the subject. The thermogram is a somatic marker
of subjective or mental states and allows us see what a person is
feeling or thinking, professor Salazar states.
Finally, thermography is useful for
evaluating emotions (since the face thermal pattern is different)
and identifying emotional contagion. For example, when a highly
empathic person sees another person having an electric discharge in
their forearm, they become infected by their suffering and
temperature in their forearm increases.
In patients with certain neurological disease such as multiple
sclerosis, the body does not properly regulates temperature, which
can be detected by a thermogram. Thermography can also be applied to
determine body fat patterns, which is very useful in weight loss and
training programs. It can also be applied to assess body temperature
in celiac patients and in patients with anorexia, etc.
For more information
Universidad de
Granada
(MDN) |