The mental nose and the Pinocchio effect: Thermography, planning, anxiety, and lies
[EN]We applied thermography to cognitive neuropsychology,
particularly as a somatic marker of subjective experience
during cognitive and emotional tasks. We found signifi cant correlations between changes in facial temperature
and mental set. Specifically, the temperature of the nose
tended to decrease during emotional tasks and increase
during cognitive tasks. However, for stress tests or high
arousal reactions to emotional stimuli, the direction of
the thermal change depended on the nature of the set ting, real or simulated. Detection of deception is a mixed
field where cognitive effort, physiological stress, and
empathy have evolved, affecting the direction of the ther mal variation—higher or lower temperature of the tip of
the nose and forehead. We found that the temperature
change of the nose and forehead may enable detecting
when people lie about facts (the Pinocchio effect
markers). In general, one important contribution is to
recover mental thermometry as a potent tool for
neurocognitive studies.
