Abstract
Stories can elicit powerful emotions. A key emotional response to narrative plots (e.g., novels, movies, etc.) is suspense. Suspense appears to build on basic aspects of human cognition such as processes of expectation, anticipation, and prediction. However, the neural processes underlying emotional experiences of suspense have not been previously investigated. We acquired functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data while participants read a suspenseful literary text (E.T.A. Hoffmann's “The Sandman”) subdivided into short text passages. Individual ratings of experienced suspense obtained after each text passage were found to be related to activation in the medial frontal cortex, bilateral frontal regions (along the inferior frontal sulcus), lateral premotor cortex, as well as posterior temporal and temporo-parietal areas. The results indicate that the emotional experience of suspense depends on brain areas associated with social cognition and predictive inference.
Highlights
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, Thy knotted and combined locks to part And each particular hair to stand on end, Like quills upon the fretful porpentine.William Shakespeare, Hamlet (1.5.15–20)Spoken or written words can evoke powerful emotional responses
Suspense ratings correlated with blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal intensity in the medial frontal cortex, bilateral frontal regions along the inferior frontal sulcus as well as posterior temporal and temporo-parietal regions bilaterally
Suspense is an important component of the emotional experience evoked by narrative plots
Summary
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, Thy knotted and combined locks to part And each particular hair to stand on end, Like quills upon the fretful porpentine.William Shakespeare, Hamlet (1.5.15–20)Spoken or written words can evoke powerful emotional responses. Generations of humans around the world have been moved, fascinated
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