Cognitive and Neurocognitive Indicators of Perceived Emotions: Implications for Rehabilitation

The paper presents the results of a study of human perception of emotional stimuli within the valence-arousal theory of emotion. The study involved 2 stages—EEG recording during viewing of images of 4 valences: happy, sad, excited, and angry. After each image, the participant identified the emotion first and then responded to a Likert scale on the intensity of the emotionality of the picture, defined as cognitive processing. The main result revealed a tendency toward significant difference in the assessment of the emotion intensity by the male and the female participants for 3 of the valences—happy, excited, and angry, but not for the sad. Neurocognitive indicators of brain activation—alpha and theta waves—are discussed in the context of possible novel approaches to rehabilitation in both genders.