Emotion regulation is an important skill for university students, who frequently encounter academic, social, and personal challenges that impact both psychological well-being and cognitive performance. Butterfly Hug (BH), a self-administered tactile bilateral stimulation technique, was originally developed in psychotherapy to foster emotional regulation during distressing material reprocessing. Despite its increasing clinical use, its neurophysiological correlates remain poorly understood.
The present study investigated whether BH modulates emotional reactivity and state anxiety, using the late positive potential (LPP), an electrophysiological marker of the brain’s response to emotionally salient information.
Thirty-two right-handed students were randomly allocated to an experimental or a control group. EEG was recorded in two sessions (T0 and T1) while participants performed an emotional simple reaction time task with negative and neutral pictures. Distinct image sets were presented at each session. Between recordings, the experimental group performed 15 minutes of BH, whereas controls maintained the same crossed-hands posture without tapping. State anxiety (STAI-Y) and subjective discomfort (VAS) were also measured. LPP activity was calculated as the difference in ERP amplitude between negative and neutral stimuli.
Results showed a significant decrease in LPP differential amplitude from T0 to T1 in the BH group. No change was observed in the controls. Moreover, we found a non-significant trend toward reduced anxiety and discomfort after BH.
These findings provide initial electrophysiological evidence that BH may decrease cortical activity with negative stimuli, thus supporting emotion regulation. Importantly, this reduction was observed with novel images at T1, suggesting that the effect generalized beyond specific stimulus content.

Authors:
Francesca Strappini, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Italy
Margherita Filosa, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Italy
Camilla Panacci, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, Italy
Luca Boccacci, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Italy
BiancaMaria di Bello, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Italy
Andrea Casella, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Italy
Merve Aydin, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Italy
Francesco Di Russo, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Italy
Sabrina Pitzalis, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Italy

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Francesca Strappini is currently an Assistant Professor of neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience at the University of Rome “Foro Italico,” Italy.

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