To think of emotions in the scope of a situated mind-body interaction is to consider if and how a person's emotional processing embeds that context/environment. This question has gained relevance within the COVID-19 pandemic with the strong development of digital interactions, both in private and public sectors of economic activity, as well as in people's homes and daily life (work, leisure, relationships), accelerating the transition to the new digital economy-based societies. However, how exactly is the emotional embedded response (to a specific environment) capable of constraining cognition and behaviour, and what factors can be related to it (e.g., age, gender, personality, features/objects from the environment)? To test our Emotionally Embedded Cognition Hypothesis, we conducted a study in 2021 with students attending university to investigate their digital embedded experiences, namely, how neuropsychological states, cognitive performance, and environment engagement correlate. The study was meticulously conducted, employing a range of methods, including an assessment (N=16) of biometrics associated with cognitive control and emotional response (heart rate [bpm] and heart rate variability/captured through PPG signals); the Stroop Test (measuring cognitive interference and accuracy in the task); neuropsychological scales (the Maslach Burnout Inventory Students Survey/MBI-SS); the Profile of Mood States/POMS), and a questionnaire on environment characteristics perceptions (light, sounds, objects), to which participants responded after attending digital classes (vs presential). We concluded that the MBI-SS scale did not correlate with the other variables (results showed that none of the participants had a burnout state of mind). Regarding moods, depression/melancholy could predict the Stroop results, and confusion/disorientation could predict heart rate variability during the task. Besides, environmental engagement could predict the Stroop effect (cognitive interference) and the heart rate variability during the study. These significant findings underscore the crucial role of environment-related bodily activity in comprehending mind-body interaction and emotional embedding in the digital world. They serve as a pivotal starting point for the sociological comprehension of emotions, particularly in the context of the new societal challenges posed by the digital era.

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Emotionally embedded cognition,digital environments,sociology of the body,mind-body-world interaction

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