Introduction: Sublime (or awe) is a complex emotion arising from vast, overwhelming, and threatening stimuli, with the potential to empower self-transcendence, prosocial behavior, and creative thinking [1, 2]. Considering that both spiritual and social domains seem to be affected in major depressive disorder (MDD) [3, 4], awe experiences have a therapeutic potential that should be further investigated, starting from the study of the underlying neuronal activity patterns. For this purpose, electroencephalography (EEG) represents an ideal tool to investigate cortical activity [5]. With the present study, we aim to investigate the EEG activity associated with awe experiences induced by validated virtual reality (VR) scenarios in a pilot sample of MDD individuals with respect to healthy controls (HC). Methods: The dataset comprised 3 MDD (1 male, 2 females, 25.5 ± 4.9 years) and 12 HC (5 males, 7 females, 27.6 ± 5.0 years). All subjects underwent five EEG sessions (GES™ 400, 64-channel cap), one at baseline and four while navigating in natural VR scenarios (Oculus Rift DK2), three awe-inducing (mountains, waterfall, and earth) and one of reference [6]. After the pre-processing, a segment of 30 seconds was extracted from each EEG dataset; specifically, an artifact-free segment for the baseline and reference was segmented manually, while in the awe-inducing scenarios the segment was selected right after the subjects reached the awe peak. Each dataset was further segmented into 2-second epochs, which were entered in a Fast Fourier Transform analysis. The power spectral density (PSD) was calculated for the theta and alpha bands and normalized according to the total PSD. The PSD comparison among VR scenarios was assessed using a Wilcoxon test (p<0.05). Results: Theta band PSD showed significant differences between MDD and HC. Specifically, the mountains environment showed an opposite PSD change with respect to the baseline for MDD (positive) and HC (negative) in bilateral frontal (p<0.01) and temporal areas. Although both groups showed negative PSD in all VR environments vs. baseline in the alpha band, MDD showed significantly lower values in the occipital regions both in the reference and waterfall scenarios, while only in the reference for the frontal and frontocentral regions. Conclusions: This pilot study aimed to investigate the EEG patterns underlying VR-based awe experiences in MDD and HC. The significant difference between the groups in the bilateral frontal and temporal areas, involved in the elaboration of awe experiences [7], in the theta band in the mountains scenario might be related to a compensatory activity to emotional processing alterations in MDD [8]. Interestingly, frontal alpha power differences in MDD seems to disappear during the awe-inducing scenario, suggesting a potential role of sublime in normalizing the emotional processing abilities between MDD and HC. These preliminary results could represent a first step towards a deeper knowledge of the sublime experience in HC and MDD, deserving a more detailed investigation among a larger sample.
Massalha, Y., Bondi, E., Pescuma, V., Pizzolante, M., Chirico, A., Schiena, G., Moltrasio, C., Gaggioli, A., Mazzocut-Mis, M., Brambilla, P., Maggioni, E., (Abstract) Electroencephalogram activity underlying virtual reality-based sublime experiences in major depressive disorder, <<NEUROSCIENCE APPLIED>>, 2023; 2 (Volume 2, Supplement 2): 8-9. [doi:10.1016/j.nsa.2023.102457] [https://hdl.handle.net/10807/303463]
Electroencephalogram activity underlying virtual reality-based sublime experiences in major depressive disorder
Pizzolante, Marta;Chirico, Alice;Gaggioli, Andrea;
2023
Abstract
Introduction: Sublime (or awe) is a complex emotion arising from vast, overwhelming, and threatening stimuli, with the potential to empower self-transcendence, prosocial behavior, and creative thinking [1, 2]. Considering that both spiritual and social domains seem to be affected in major depressive disorder (MDD) [3, 4], awe experiences have a therapeutic potential that should be further investigated, starting from the study of the underlying neuronal activity patterns. For this purpose, electroencephalography (EEG) represents an ideal tool to investigate cortical activity [5]. With the present study, we aim to investigate the EEG activity associated with awe experiences induced by validated virtual reality (VR) scenarios in a pilot sample of MDD individuals with respect to healthy controls (HC). Methods: The dataset comprised 3 MDD (1 male, 2 females, 25.5 ± 4.9 years) and 12 HC (5 males, 7 females, 27.6 ± 5.0 years). All subjects underwent five EEG sessions (GES™ 400, 64-channel cap), one at baseline and four while navigating in natural VR scenarios (Oculus Rift DK2), three awe-inducing (mountains, waterfall, and earth) and one of reference [6]. After the pre-processing, a segment of 30 seconds was extracted from each EEG dataset; specifically, an artifact-free segment for the baseline and reference was segmented manually, while in the awe-inducing scenarios the segment was selected right after the subjects reached the awe peak. Each dataset was further segmented into 2-second epochs, which were entered in a Fast Fourier Transform analysis. The power spectral density (PSD) was calculated for the theta and alpha bands and normalized according to the total PSD. The PSD comparison among VR scenarios was assessed using a Wilcoxon test (p<0.05). Results: Theta band PSD showed significant differences between MDD and HC. Specifically, the mountains environment showed an opposite PSD change with respect to the baseline for MDD (positive) and HC (negative) in bilateral frontal (p<0.01) and temporal areas. Although both groups showed negative PSD in all VR environments vs. baseline in the alpha band, MDD showed significantly lower values in the occipital regions both in the reference and waterfall scenarios, while only in the reference for the frontal and frontocentral regions. Conclusions: This pilot study aimed to investigate the EEG patterns underlying VR-based awe experiences in MDD and HC. The significant difference between the groups in the bilateral frontal and temporal areas, involved in the elaboration of awe experiences [7], in the theta band in the mountains scenario might be related to a compensatory activity to emotional processing alterations in MDD [8]. Interestingly, frontal alpha power differences in MDD seems to disappear during the awe-inducing scenario, suggesting a potential role of sublime in normalizing the emotional processing abilities between MDD and HC. These preliminary results could represent a first step towards a deeper knowledge of the sublime experience in HC and MDD, deserving a more detailed investigation among a larger sample.
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