Emotions evoked by intracerebral electrical stimulation of the temporal lobe

The expression of emotions induced by temporal lobe stimulation was analysed in 74 patients undergonig presurgical video-Stereo-EEG monitoring for drug-resistant epilepsy. 79 emotional responses were obtained in more than 900 stimulations. 67 out of 79 ER were 'fear responses'. Sad feelings were evoked 3 times, happy-pleasant feelings were obtained 9 times. Anger and disgust were never observed. Expression of fear was preferentially evoked by mesial temporal lobe stimulation. The most effective stimulation parameters for inducing emotional responses were high frequency (50 Hz) stimuli with 2mA intensity.