Purpose of the presented experiment was to study effects caused by emotional
stimulation by way of scalp recorded direct current (DC) potential change.
Three film clips chosen for their emotionally evocative nature of eliciting
either positive, neutral or negative emotions, were viewed by 21 participants.
After each clip participants were asked to rate experienced emotions and
then perform a set of discrimination tasks. DC potential change at prefrontal,
frontal, central and parietal locations of left and right hemisphere was
recorded. ANCOVA, correcting for vertical EOG, revealed a task related
change for frontal locations and Fp1. Negative DC potential change occurred
during the film clips, sustained throughout a subsequent pause, and rebounded
during the questionnaire period. At central locations and Fp2, this DC
potential change occurred only for specific film conditions. At locations
Fp1 and F3 the positive film resulted in greater negative DC potential
change than the negative film. This effect of the positive film is discussed
in connection with regulation of activation and attention. Differences
in DC potential change for emotional film condition were supported by differences
in self report measures of experienced emotions and differences in task
performance indicated by reaction time and number of errors