ABSTRACT
Critical errors in movement planning and control compromise the efficiency and effectiveness of human motor oehavior, leading to fatigue, frustration, injury, and performance failure. Our objective is to summarize how the arousal and valence components of emotional reactivity influence the motor parameters that underlie simple and complex functional behaviors. We have determined that ( 1 ) exposure to unpleasant emotional conditions leads to faster, more forceful ballistic upper extremity movements compared to pleasant and neutral conditions , (2) greater emotional arousal increases force production while attenuating force decay of movements that are sustained at moderate force levels, and (3) emotion-modulated force production is qualified by individual differences in anxiety and depression. In addition to modulation of upper extremity movements, we have also recently demonstrated that (4) emotions influence whole body movements, particularly gait initiation. Intense unpleasant emotional states accelerate initi al motor responses, but pleasant emotions facilitate the initiation and maintenance of forward gait as
evidenced by step length, stride length, and step vclocity. Implications are discussed concerning how the compatibility of emotional reactions and directional movements can be coupled to facilitate execution of goal directed actions . The potential for manipulating affective input to enhance human motor performance and risk mitigation will be highlighted by considering how a computational neuroergonomics approach might be used to model the impact of emotional reactivity on motor function.
