Research Interests
The primary research focus of the Embodied Emotion
Laboratory is to understand the neuroscience of emotional perception and emotional
experience. To that end, we have embarked on a series of interrelated
projects in order to understand the emotional modulation of attention using
cognitive, neuroimaging, and neuropsychological research strategies.
The Emotional
Modulation of Attention
Emotional stimuli capture and hold our attention. They
also elicit increased activity in brain areas related to attention,
perception, and movement. My students and I are investigating several
different aspects of these emotion-movement-attention interactions. These
studies include neuroimaging (fMRI) studies, research with individuals who
have suffered traumatic brain injuries, and computer-based studies with
undergraduate students. We are interested in learning (a) how learned
emotional associations affect attention and the brain, (b) how emotion
influences our experience of time, and (c) how we perceive and interpret
emotional body language.
The Role of the
Spinal Cord in Emotional Responses
My colleagues and I are using functional MRI of the spinal
cord to examine whether emotion influences activity in motoric and
somatosensory regions of this CNS structure. Using this state-of-the-art
neuroimaging method, we have been able to demonstrate that emotional images
increase cervical spinal cord responses during movements (Smith &
Kornelsen, 2011). This emotion-dependent activity appears to be limb-specific emotional images depicting
scenes involving upper-limb responses activate the cervical spinal cord
(which innervates the upper limbs) more than do scenes involving lower-limb
responses (McIver et al., 2013). Recently, we showed that emotions influence
activity in the thoracic spinal cord, the region in the middle of the chest
and abdomen (Kornelsen et al., 2014, 2015).
These spinal cord segments have sensory and motoric (movement) functions, but
are also involved with a number of autonomic nervous system responses (e.g.,
pupil dilation, stimulating glands that secrete epinephrine and norepinephrine).
Ongoing studies will attempt to link activity in the spinal cord with
activity in different brain regions, thus providing a detailed depiction of
how the central nervous system is involved in various emotional behaviours.
Autonomous Sensory
Meridian Response (ASMR)
Individuals with Autonomous Sensory Median Response (ASMR) experience
sensory-emotional responses to specific sensory triggers. The physical
element of ASMR often involves tingling sensations on the scalp, neck, and
back. The emotional element, on the other hand, is often described as a
sudden calmness leading to deep relaxation. Such responses to sensory
triggers are reminiscent of synesthesia, a condition in which one sensation
(e.g., a sound) automatically elicits another sensation (e.g., a taste).
However, ASMR is unique in that the sensory triggers generally involve
social, but not sexual, intimacy. For instance, many individuals have ASMR
response to whispering, or close-up videos of day-to-day actions such as
painting one's fingernails or brushing one's hair. Surprisingly, although
upwards of 40,000 people are thought to experience ASMR, this condition has
received little scientific attention. My colleagues and I have published
papers investigating personality traits that are more pronounced in ASMR, as
well as resting-state fMRI studies showing that ASMR is associated with
atypical patterns of functional connectivity, task-based fMRI studies, and
EEG experiments.
Resting-State fMRI and Personality
Traits
Functional
neuroimaging of the brain has revealed that groups of neural structures often
work together to perform tasks. In the past 15 years, researchers have also
noted that it is possible to detect the activity of networks in the resting
brain (i.e., when people are not performing a cognitive task). These networks
consist of brain regions whose patterns of firing are correlated. Well-known
resting-state networks include the default mode network, the salience
network, and the central executive network. Dr. Kornelsen and I currently have
two separate sets of data from participants who have completed resting-state
fMRI scans and different personality measures. We are looking at how the
functional connectivity of different brain networks varies as a function of
different personality traits.
Gambling, Mindfulness, and Dark Flow
States
Gambling is a
multibillion-dollar industry in Canada, with a net annual revenue of over $13
billion. An obvious question that arises from this stunning statistic is, Why do people continue to gamble when it is clear that the
house always wins in the end? Research indicates that casinos and
slot-machine designers are well aware of learning principles identified by
psychologists almost one hundred years ago. Through the use of variable-ratio
reinforcement schedules and pairing games with rewarding sounds and imagery,
game designers have made slot machines and video lottery terminals (VTLs)
dangerously addictive. However, the allure of slot machines extends beyond
operant and classical conditioning; gamblers also report that slot machines
can induce states of consciousness that make it very difficult to stop
playing. The current research explores one of these subjective states,
referred to by gamblers as the zone, or the machine zone. The zone is a place
where they tend to forget everything else around them and become completely
absorbed in playing the game. We will examine whether the players for whom
the zone is so positively rewarding are those who have trouble staying on
task in daily life because of attentional difficulties. We will also examine
whether modern multiline games (where players bet on multiple paylines each spin), are capable of reigning in wandering
attention by administering frequent positive reinforcement using a
variable-ratio reinforcement schedule. Finally, we will examine the role that
different personality factors such as trait mindfulness play in these
processes. Together, these studies will allow us to delineate the game
characteristics that contribute to their appeal, and that increase the
potential for harm.
Using Wireless EEG
to Measure Emotional Regulation Impairments
The process of emotional regulation involves monitoring
and controlling the intensity affective responses to an external event and/or
an internal thought process. Numerous studies, including both neuroimaging
and neurological research, have noted that the frontal lobes play a critical
role in these regulatory processes. However, as the brain ages, the volume of
the frontal lobes is reduced. In some cases, such as in dementia, this
atrophy can lead to cognitive impairments, including difficulties regulating emotions.
The long-term goal of the current
interdisciplinary research is to develop methods and applied technology
allowing researchers and medical staff to detect patterns of brain activity
that can predict (within seconds or minutes) when emotionally dysregulated behaviours will occur.
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Current
Funding
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Council Discovery Grant (2014-2022). Functional
MRI Investigations Characterizing an Emo-Motoric Network of Emotional
Experience.
Publications
Copyright notice (adapted from various sources): The
documents available for download from this web site are protected by various
copyright laws, but I am allowed to distribute copies to individuals for
personal research and study. Your click on any of the preceding links
constitutes your request to me for a personal copy of the linked document,
and downloading the document constitutes my delivery of a personal copy. By
downloading any of the documents, you agree to adhere to the terms and
constraints invoked by each author or copyright holder. Any other use is prohibited
without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.
Note: The
university is switching to a new server in 2022. I will update the links to
PDFs of the articles after the switch is complete.
- Smith,
S. D., & Kornelsen, J.
(in press). Functional connectivity associated with individual
differences on the emotional attentional blink task. NeuroImage: Reports.
- Smith,
S. D., Nadeau, C., Sorokopud-Jones, M., & Kornelsen, J. (in press).
Resting-state functional connectivity associated with self-reported
interoceptive sensibility. Brain
Connectivity.
- Kruger,
T., Dixon, M. J., Graydon, C., Larche, C. J., Stange, M., Smith, S. D., & Smilek, D. (in press). Contrasting mind-wandering,
(dark) flow, and affect during multiline and single-line slot machine
play. Journal of Gambling Studies.
- Tchajkova, N., Ethans, K.,
& Smith, S. D. (2021). Inside the lived perspective of life after
spinal cord injury: a qualitative study of the desire to live and not
live, including with assisted dying. Spinal
Cord. 59, 485-492. doi: 10.1038/s41393-021-00619-3
- Fredborg, B., K., Champagne-Jorgensen, K., Desroches, A. S., & Smith, S. D. (2021). An
electroencephalographic examination of the autonomous sensory meridian
response (ASMR). Consciousness
& Cognition, 87. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2020.103053.
- Kruger,
T. B., Dixon, M. J., Graydon, C., Stange, M., Larche, C. J., Smith, S. D., & Smilek, D. (2020). Using deliberate mind-wandering to
escape negative mood states: Implications for gambling to escape. Journal of Behavioral Addictions.
- Smith,
S. D., Fredborg,
B. K., & Kornelsen, J. (2020). Functional connectivity
associated with five different categories of autonomous sensory meridian
response (ASMR) triggers. Consciousness
& Cognition. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2020.103021.
- Dixon,
M. J., Gutierrez, J., Larche, C. J., Stange, M., Graydon, C., Kruger, T. B., & Smith,
S. D. (2019). Reward
reactivity and dark flow in slot-machine gambling: Light and dark routes
to enjoyment. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 8, 489-498. doi:
10.1556/2006.8.2019.38
- Smith,
S. D., Fredborg,
B. K., & Kornelsen, J. (2019). Atypical functional connectivity associated with Autonomous
Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR): An examination of five resting-state
networks. Brain Connectivity, 9, 508-518. doi:
10.1089/brain.2018.0618
- Smith,
S. D., Fredborg, B. K., & Kornelsen, J.
(2019). A functional MRI investigation of the autonomous sensory
meridian response (ASMR). PeerJ, 7, e7122.
doi:10.7717/peerj.7122
- Parkinson,
T. D., Kornelsen, J., & Smith, S. D. (2019). Trait mindfulness and
functional connectivity in cognitive and attentional resting state
networks. Frontiers in Human
Neuroscience, 13, 112. doi:
10.3389/fnhum.2019.00112
- Curby, K. M.,
Smith, S. D., Moerel, D., & Dyson, A. (2018). The cost of
facing fear: Visual working memory is impaired for faces wearing fearful
expressions. British Journal of
Psychology. doi:10.1111/bjop.12324 PDF
- Fredborg,
B. K., Clark, J., & Smith, S. D. (2018). Mindfulness and Autonomous
Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR). PeerJ, 6, e5414. doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5414
- Bilevicius, E., Kolesar, T. A., Smith, S. D.,
Trapnell, P., & Kornelsen, J. (2018). Trait emotional empathy and resting
state functional connectivity: Alterations in default mode, salience,
and central executive networks. Brain
Sciences, 8, 128. doi:10.3390/brainsci8070128
- Bilevicius, E., Smith,
S. D., & Kornelsen, J. (2018). Resting state network functional
connectivity patterns associated with trait mindfulness. Brain Connectivity, 8, 40-48. doi:
10.1089/brain.2017.0520
- Smith,
S. D., Kornelsen, J., & McIver, T. A. (2018). Generating facial
expressions of disgust activates neurons in the thoracic spinal cord: An
fMRI study. Social Neuroscience,
13, 328-332. doi:10.1080/17470919.2017.1324811
- Smith,
S. D., Fredborg, B. K., & Kornelsen, J. (2017). An examination of the default mode
network in individuals with Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR).
Social Neuroscience, 12, 361-365. doi:10.1080/17470919.2016.1188851
- Fredborg,
B. K., Clark, J., & Smith, S. D.
(2017). The big five personality traits and Autonomous Sensory
Meridian Response (ASMR). Frontiers
in Psychology, 8, 247. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00247
- Kolesar, T. A., Kornelsen, J., &
Smith, S. D. (2017). Separating neural activity associated with emotion
and implied motion: An fMRI study. Emotion,
17, 131-140.
- Kolesar, T. A., Feist, K. M.,
Smith, S. D., & Kornelsen, J. (2015). Assessing nociception
by fMRI of the human spinal cord: A systematic review. Magnetic Resonance Insights, 8(S1),
31-39. PDF
- Kornelsen,
J., Smith, S. D., & McIver, T. A. (2015). A neural correlate of
visceral emotional responses: Evidence from fMRI of the thoracic spinal
cord. Social, Cognitive, and
Affective Neuroscience, 10, 584-588. PDF
- Sboto-Frankenstein, U. N., Lazar., T., Bolster, R.
B., Thind, S., Gervai,
P., Gruwel, M. L. H., & Smith, S. D. (2015). Symmetry of the fornix
using diffusion tensor imaging. Journal
of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 40, 929-936. PDF
- Gervai de Dreesen,
P., Sboto-Frankenstein, U. N., Bolster, R. B.,
Thind, S., Gruwel,
M. L., & Smith, S. D., Tomanek, B. (2014).
Tractography of Meyers loop asymmetries. Epilepsy Research, 108, 872-882. PDF
- Hildebrand, K. D., & Smith, S. D.
(2014). Attentional biases toward humor: Separate effects of incongruity
detection and resolution. Motivation
and Emotion, 38, 287-296. PDF
- Garcia-Campuzon, M.-T., Virues-Ortega,
J., Smith, S. D., & Moussavi, Z. (2013). Effect of cognitive
training targeting associate memory in the elderly: A small randomized
trial and a longitudinal evaluation. Journal of the American
Geriatric Society, 61, 2252-2254.
PDF
- McIver, T. A., Kornelsen, J., &
Smith, S. D. (2013). Limb-specific emotional modulation of cervical
spinal cord neurons. Cognitive,
Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 13, 464-472. PDF
- Schweizer,
T. A., Li, L., Alexander, M. P., Smith, S. D., Graham, S., Fischer, C.,
& Fornazarri, L. (2013). From the thalamus
with love: Neuroplasticity, emotion, and the origins of synaesthesia. Neurology,
51, 509-510. PDF
- Edmiston,
E., McHugo, M., Dukic,
M., Smith, S. D., Abou-Khalil, B., Eggers, E.,
& Zald, D. H. (2013). Enhanced visual
cortical activation for emotional stimuli is preserved in patients with
unilateral amygdala resection. The
Journal of Neuroscience, 33, 11023-11031. PDF
- Kornelsen, J., Smith, S.
D., McIver, T. A., Sboto-Frankenstein, Latta, P., Yin, D., &
Tomanek, B. (2013). Detection of sensory stimulation in the
thoracic spinal cord using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Journal of Magnetic Resonance
Imaging. PDF
- Salter,
J. E., Smith, S. D., & Ethans, K. D.
(2013). Positive and negative affect in individuals with spinal cord
injuries. Spinal Cord, 51, 252-256. PDF
- Smith, S. D., &
Kornelsen, J. (2011). Emotion-dependent responses in spinal cord
neurons: A spinal fMRI study. NeuroImage, 58,
269-274. PDF
- Piech, R. M., McHugo, M.,
Smith, S. D., Dukic, M. S., Van Der Meer, J., Abou-Khalil, B., Most, S. B., & Zald, D. H. (2011). Attentional capture by emotional
stimuli is preserved in patients with amygdala lesions. Neuropsychologia, 49, 3314-3319. PDF
- Smith,
S. D., McIver, T. A., Di Nella, M. S. J., & Crease, M. L. (2011).
The effects of valence and arousal on the emotional modulation of time
perception: Evidence for multiple stages of processing. Emotion, 11, 1305-1313. PDF
- Piech, R. M., McHugo, M.,
Smith, S. D., Dukic, M. S., Van Der Meer, J., Abou-Khalil, B., & Zald,
D. H. (2010). Fear-enhanced visual search persists after amygdala
lesions. Neuropsychologia, 48, 3430-3435. PDF
- Juruena, M. F., Giampietro,
V. P., Smith, S. D., Surguladze, S. A., Dalton, J. A.,
Benson, P. J., Cleare, A. J., & Fu, C.
H.Y. (2010). Amygdala responsivity to masked happy and sad facial
expressions. Journal of the
International Neuropsychological Society, 16, 383-387. PDF
- Smith,
S. D., Abou-Khalil, B., & Zald, D. H. (2008). Post-traumatic stress disorder
in a patient with no left amygdala. Journal
of Abnormal Psychology, 117, 479-484. PDF
- Hakyemez, H. S., Dagher,
A., Smith, S. D., & Zald, D. H. (2008). Striatal dopamine
transmission in healthy humans during passive unpredictable monetary
reward and novelty. NeuroImage, 39,
2058-2065. PDF
- Most,
S. B., Smith, S. D., Levy,
B., Cooter, A. B., & Zald, D. H. (2007).
The naked truth: Appetitive distractors impair rapid target perception. Cognition & Emotion, 21,
964-981. PDF
- Smith, S. D., Most, S. B., Newsome, L. A., & Zald, D. H. (2006). An emotional blink of attention
elicited by aversively conditioned stimuli. Emotion, 6, 523-527.
PDF
- Smith, S. D., & Bulman-Fleming, M. B. (2006).
Hemispheric asymmetries for the conscious and unconscious perception of
emotional words. Laterality, 11,
304-330. PDF
- Smith, S. D., Dixon,
M. J., Bulman-Fleming, M. B., Birch, C., Laudi,
N., & Wagar, B. M. (2005). Experience with
a category alters hemispheric asymmetries for the detection of
anomalies. Neuropsychologia, 43, 1911-1915. PDF
- Merikle, P. M.,
& Smith, S. D. (2005). Memory for
information perceived without awareness. In N. Ohta,
C. M. MacLeod, & B. Uttl (Eds.), Dynamic
cognitive processes (pp. 79-99). Tokyo: Springer-Verlag. PDF
- Smith, S. D., & Bulman-Fleming, M. B. (2005). An
examination of the Right-Hemisphere Hypothesis of the lateralization of
emotion. Brain and Cognition, 57, 210-213.
PDF
- Smith, S. D.,
Bulman-Fleming, M. B. (2004). A hemispheric asymmetry for the
unconscious perception of emotion. Brain
and Cognition, 55, 452-457. PDF
- Smith, S. D., Dixon,
M. J., Tays, W. J., & Bulman-Fleming, M.
B. (2004). Anomaly detection in the right hemisphere: The influence of
visuospatial factors. Brain and
Cognition, 55, 458-462. PDF
- Smith, S. D., Tays, W. J.,
Dixon,
M. J., & Bulman-Fleming, M. B. (2002). The right hemisphere as an
anomaly-detector: Evidence from visual perception. Brain and Cognition, 48, 574-579. PDF
- Schweizer, T. A.,
Dixon, M. J., Desmarais, G., & Smith, S. D. (2002). Not all triads are created equal: Further support
for the importance of visual and semantic proximity in object
identification. Brain and
Cognition 48, 537-541. PDF
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