Schedule of Events | Symposia

Sketchpad Series

Neurophysiological correlates of awe

Poster Session D - Monday, March 31, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom
Also presenting in Data Blitz Session 3 - Saturday, March 29, 2025, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm EDT, Constitution A.

Lorenzo Pasquini¹ (lorenzo.pasquini@ucsf.edu), Joseph Chen², Gabriella Mace³, Avery Ostrand⁴, Christian Valtierra⁵, Sydney Griffith⁶, Danny Brown⁷, Luca Mazzucato⁸, Nicole Swann⁹, Xin Hu¹⁰, Christopher Timmermann¹¹, Theodore Zanto¹², David Ziegler¹³, Adam Gazzaley¹⁴; ¹University of California San Francisco, ²University of Oregon, ³University of Pittsburgh, ⁴Imperial College London

Awe is a complex emotional experience typified by perceived vastness and promoting well-being as well as social cohesion. Yet, few studies have investigated the neurophysiological basis of awe. The overarching aim of this study was to identify EEG-based neurophysiological signatures of awe. A 30-minute nature film was shown to 19 participants twice. The 1st viewing was uninterrupted and recorded with 64-channel electroencephalography (EEG), heart rate, electrodermal activity, and respiration. In the 2nd viewing, participants paused the video whenever they remembered feeling awe and rated their awe on a 1-10 point scale. Awe event timestamps from the 2nd viewing were projected onto the 1st viewing and neurophysiological correlates of awe were ascertained at ±3 seconds relative to each awe event. Non-awe events were randomly chosen and used as control events. Awe events caused EEG alpha and theta decreases, increases in Lempel-Ziv complexity (LZC), and decreased skin conductance levels. Alpha and theta desynchronizations were most evident in midfrontal and bilateral occipital areas, whereas LZC increases were most prominent in the left lateral occipital areas (peak effect at P9 electrode, t(18)=2.6,p=0.02). Electrophysiological measures correlated with the self-reported intensity of awe. Our findings concur with limited, prior reports of awe neurophysiology. Confirmatory analyses in independent, cross-cultural datasets with pharmacological or audiovisual stimuli are ongoing. This characterization may aid in identifying signatures of the awe experience and also for monitoring feelings of awe in therapeutic interventions.

Topic Area: EMOTION & SOCIAL: Emotional responding