Understanding the physical sensations of emotions
The image below is based on a well-known study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in 2013 by Nummenmaa et al. The researchers created “body maps” of emotions by asking over 700 participants across cultures to indicate where in the body they feel increased or decreased activity during various emotions.
Here’s why different emotions create physical sensations in specific body regions, as shown in the image:
Here’s why different emotions create physical sensations in specific body regions, as shown in the image:
Increased Activation (Warm Colors: Red, Orange, Yellow) These regions are where people feel more sensation or energy during specific emotions.
1. Head and Face:
Emotion: Anger, Happiness, Pride, Love, Surprise
Why: Increased blood flow and autonomic arousal (e.g., facial flushing, smiling, widened eyes, muscle tension)
Neurobiology: Triggered by the amygdala, insula, and hypothalamus, which affect heart rate, facial muscles, and sympathetic activation.
2. Chest and Heart Area:
Emotion: Love, Anxiety, Pride, Happiness
Why: Many emotions impact heart rate and breathing — love and anxiety both heighten chest awareness.
Neurobiology: Vagus nerve involvement, changes in breathing and cardiovascular activity.
3. Hands and Arms:
Emotion: Anger, Fear, Happiness
Why: These are “action-oriented” emotions — preparing for fight (anger), flight (fear), or expression (happiness).
Neurobiology: Motor cortex and sympathetic nervous system increase readiness for movement.
Decreased Activation (Cool Colors: Blue, Black)These regions feel numbed, heavy, or empty during certain emotions.
4. Limbs:
Emotion: Sadness, Depression, Shame
Why: Reduced physical energy, behavioral withdrawal, or “shutdown” mode.
Neurobiology: Dorsal vagal complex activity (Polyvagal Theory) slows heart rate and suppresses mobilization.
5. Whole Body:
Emotion: Depression
Why: Depression is linked to low arousal, motor suppression, and blunted interoceptive signaling (body awareness).
Neurobiology: Lower dopamine and serotonin levels, affecting physical energy and mood.
Other Key Patterns:- Anxiety:
Mix of increased chest activity (tightness, racing heart) and decreased limbs (frozen, heavy feeling).
Linked to sympathetic hyperarousal with muscle readiness + fear inhibition.
6. Shame and Contempt:
Shame activates the chest/face (burning, blushing) but shows deactivation in the limbs (collapse, avoidance).
Contempt often shows facial dominance with less systemic arousal.
- Neutral: Minimal to no activation or deactivation — a baseline homeostatic state.
🧠 Summary of the Science:
Emotions are embodied: They’re not just mental—they’re felt physiologically.
Autonomic nervous system, limbic system, and brain-body pathways (especially the vagus nerve) coordinate this.
These maps show how somatic (body-based) therapies and interoception (body awareness training) can help treat emotional dysregulation, trauma, or mood disorders.