Emotions in Audience Decision Making 323the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), or upper portion of the ACC (see Figure 3.5 , p. 108).
Activation of the dorsal ACC is commonly associated with the orienting response and surprise.^154
Within 200 milliseconds of the presentation of the stimulus, the amygdala is automatically acti-
vated.^155 At that point, even before the stimulus is identifi ed, automatic appraisal processes in the
amygdala provide an estimate of the stimulus’s positive or negative valence.^156 Subsequently, each
basic emotion is associated with a consistent pattern of brain activation that differs signifi cantly
from those of other emotions. For example, fear is primarily associated with activity in the left
amygdala and insular cortex, a brain region located beneath the juncture of the frontal, temporal,
and parietal lobes. Anger is primarily associated with activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus.
Disgust with activity in right inferior frontal gyrus. Sadness with activity in the left medial pre-
frontal cortex. And happiness is primarily associated with activity in the upper region of the right
temporal lobe.^157
Physiological Responses to Emotional Appraisals
Emotional appraisals elicit bodily responses in audience members’ autonomic nervous systems, their
immune systems, their cardiovascular systems, and their digestive systems.^158 They elicit changes
in the audience’s facial expressions, somatic muscular tonus, tone of voice, and hormone levels.^159
FIGURE 7.3 High-Speed Photography Captures the Sequence of Emotional Appraisals
Source: Kaiser, Wehrle, and Schmidt (1998, p. 86)