Effects of viewing affective pictures on sEMG activity of masticatory and postural muscles

•The results show that emotions are not able to influence the activity of masticatory and postural muscles.•The statistically significant results seem to be randomly distributed.•Further studies are required. Recently there has been an upsurge of interest in the question to what extent the human motor control system is influenced by the emotional state of the actor. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether emotional inputs modify the activity of masticatory and postural muscles. Twenty healthy young adults viewed affective pictures, while surface electromyography (sEMG) of masticatory and postural muscles was recorded to investigate the coupling between emotional reactions and body muscular activity. One hundred and twenty pictures, chosen from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), divided in two blocks of six sets, were presented to the subjects. sEMG data were statistically analyzed (RM ANOVA on Ranks). Root Mean Square (RMS) amplitudes, comparing the subsequent sets (Neutral, Unpleasant, Neutral, Pleasant) with the first and the last Baseline set, changed significantly only randomly. The results show that emotional inputs seems not influence the activity of masticatory and postural muscles, recorded by sEMG.