Body map shows where different emotions are physically felt

Researchers have developed a new body map that details where we feel different emotions such as sadness, depression, pride etc.

The range of human emotion is culturally universal and can be represented topographically, a new research has revealed.

The researchers from Aalto University found that the most common emotions trigger strong bodily sensations, and the bodily maps of these sensations were topographically different for different emotions.

The findings have major implications for our understanding of the functions of emotions and their bodily basis.

The research was carried out on line, and over 700 individuals from Finland, Sweden and Taiwan took part in the study.

The researchers induced different emotional states in their Finnish and Taiwanese participants. Subsequently the participants were shown with pictures of human bodies on a computer, and asked to colour the bodily regions whose activity they felt increasing or decreasing.

The results have been published in the journal Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).