Background

The following is a showcase of the different visualizations for my Masters Thesis titled Mood Effects on Reappraisal and Distraction: An ERP Study on the Sensitivity of Emotion Regulation Strategies.

Goal: To present a brief overview of my design and analysis and show the different types of visuals I used for my thesis defense.

To read more about this study and my work please click the button below

Emotion Regulation

Emotion regulation is the term used to describe the brains ability to keep emotional responses stable in the presence of new and or intense stimuli. Without emotion regulation, humans are not able to control the type of emotions and the intensity of our responses. There are three types of emotion regulation, reappraisal, distraction, and suppression.

For my masters thesis, I set out to validate past research that used Electroencephalogram data to see if humans could easily calm themselves down when faced with negative stimuli. Specifically, I wanted to see if there was a difference between reappraisal and distraction.

Editing the Data

Approximately 10,000 data points were examined for the entire project. These data points consisted of peak ERP signals that have been edited in the following ways:

Electrophysiological data was recorded from 28 electrode sites distributed evenly across the scalp using silver/silver-chloride (Ag/AgCl) electrodes attached to an elastic cap (Neuromedical Supplies Inc.) and a Compumedics-Neuroscan amplifier/stimulator with the Scan 4 Neuroimaging Suite software.

Electrical impedance of each electrode was minimized to under 5mΩs, and the system was referenced on the nasion (i.e., the area between the eyebrows, above the nose).

Eye blinks were monitored via an electrode positioned at the outer canthus (i.e., corner) of the left eye. Electrodes were aligned in a 10 to 20 system, meaning the distances between adjacent electrodes are either 10 or 20 percent of the total front-back, left-right distance of the skull.

Visualizing the Data

The first set of visualizations are different time series analyses of the averaged data points between all 25 participants and their brain waves.

The first image shows the initial noted split between distraction (yellow) and reappraisal (blue). Notice how the EEG signals for reappraisal are much lower than the distraction signals. This indicated the first moment the two strategies became distinct from one another. For the visualization of this graph, I created a smaller, zoomed in section so viewers of my thesis could quickly notice the initial differences without needing a firm background in Neuroscience research.

 The second image displayed below are two separate time series graphs comparing the differences between distraction and reappraisal. Overall differences (μV) between distraction and reappraisal showed that when participants were asked to distract themselves from the negative image they were shown, they calmed down faster, and stayed calmer for longer than when they were asked to reappraise the negative image. These two time series analyses were produced via Compumedics Neuroscan and were created to show clarity between the two strategies.