Neural mechanisms of enhanced emotional experience during live sports viewing: Multimodal evidence from fNIRS and EEG.

The real-time nature and outcome uncertainty of live sports viewing can shape viewer' emotional experiences through suspense, yet the neural mechanisms remain unclear. This study employed simultaneous fNIRS-EEG recording, combined with behavioral measures, to systematically examine suspense-driven emotional arousal and its neural basis during live versus replayed table tennis matches. Behaviorally, participants reported significantly stronger suspense, higher emotional arousal, and greater pleasure in the live condition compared to the replay condition. Neuroimaging results showed that live viewing selectively activated the left frontal cortex and increased β-band oscillatory activity in both the left frontal and left parietal regions. The simultaneous fNIRS-EEG analysis further revealed a significant increase in neurovascular coupling efficiency within the left frontal cortex during live viewing, suggesting that suspense-related cognitive load facilitates neural-metabolic coordination. Mediation analysis demonstrated that left frontal activation partially mediated the relationship between suspense perception and emotional arousal, whereas left frontal β-band oscillatory activity did not show a significant mediating effect in the pathway from suspense perception to emotional arousal. Together, these multimodal findings reveal a left frontal cognitive-emotional integration mechanism through which live sports viewing, driven by suspense, enhances emotional experience. The results provide novel empirical evidence for the neural pathways by which suspense in non-fictional media modulates emotional processing.