# Arousal Shift — VoiceNet dimension guide

*Category:* Temporal Dynamics · *code:* `vn_ARSH` · *slot:* 70

This dimension measures the change in physiological activation over the clip. Merge the `__high` / `__low` LoRA from `laion/moss-voicenet-dimension-loras` at 25/50/75/100/125%. Costs are shifts vs. the 24-sample neutral baseline.

**TL;DR.** **Arousal Shift** controls the change in physiological activation over the clip. The **__high** LoRA shifts it +0.43 at 100% (worst cost: burst-blend -0.35); the **__low** LoRA shifts it -0.14 at 125% (worst cost: speech quality -0.34). The **__high** direction is the stronger, more reliable knob here.

## ▲ HIGH — Arousal Shift __high

| dose | target | Δtarget | Δgenu | Δblend | Δqual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| baseline (0%) | 0.203 | — | — | — | — |
| 25% | 0.228 | +0.02 | -0.02 | -0.02 | -0.03 |
| 50% | 0.327 | +0.12 | -0.03 | -0.20 | +0.06 |
| 75% | 0.459 | +0.26 | -0.05 | -0.21 | -0.04 |
| 100% ★ | 0.637 | +0.43 | -0.10 | -0.35 | +0.01 |
| 125% | 0.634 | +0.43 | -0.09 | -0.37 | -0.13 |

- **EmoNet emotion** — ↑ Triumph (+0.63), Pride (+0.61), Anger (+0.48); ↓ Relief (-0.62), Affection (-0.61), Longing (-0.61)
- **VoiceNet dimension** — ↑ Attack (+0.89), Arousal (+0.89), Stance (+0.86); ↓ Vulnerability (-0.83), Cognitive Load (-0.74), Genuineness (-0.67)

Merging **Arousal Shift __high** raises the dimension: at the recommended **100%** dose the measured Arousal Shift score moves from a 0.20 baseline to 0.64 (a +0.43 shift). The dose-response is clean and monotonic — each step pushes the dimension further. That reach is a steep cost — the biggest hit is to **burst-blend** (-0.35); across the board genuineness -0.10, burst-blend -0.35, speech quality +0.01. Emotionally it reads as Triumph (r 0.63), Pride (0.61) and Anger (0.48), and it moves away from Relief, Affection and Longing. On other voice dimensions it co-moves most with Attack (0.89), Arousal (0.89) and Stance (0.86), while pulling down Vulnerability, Cognitive Load and Genuineness. Practical call: merge __high at **75–100%**; expect Triumph and Attack to rise and burst-blend to fall. If you don’t want Triumph bleeding in, offset it with a prompt cue toward Relief to keep the arousal shift shift without the side-effect.

## ▼ LOW — Arousal Shift __low

| dose | target | Δtarget | Δgenu | Δblend | Δqual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| baseline (0%) | 0.203 | — | — | — | — |
| 25% | 0.211 | +0.01 | -0.01 | -0.04 | +0.00 |
| 50% | 0.145 | -0.06 | +0.02 | -0.09 | -0.11 |
| 75% | 0.123 | -0.08 | +0.07 | -0.02 | -0.22 |
| 100% | 0.118 | -0.08 | +0.04 | -0.08 | -0.14 |
| 125% ★ | 0.064 | -0.14 | +0.07 | -0.11 | -0.34 |

- **EmoNet emotion** — ↑ Interest (+0.72), Affection (+0.61), Hope/Enthusiasm/Optimism (+0.58); ↓ Pain (-0.69), Fatigue/Exhaustion (-0.64), Disappointment (-0.56)
- **VoiceNet dimension** — ↑ Structure (+0.76), Smoothness (+0.75), Fullness (+0.73); ↓ Genuineness (-0.64), Disfluency (-0.59), Playful Style (-0.46)

Merging **Arousal Shift __low** damps the dimension: at the recommended **125%** dose the measured Arousal Shift score moves from a 0.20 baseline to 0.06 (a -0.14 shift). The dose-response is clean and monotonic — each step pushes the dimension further. That reach is a steep cost — the biggest hit is to **speech quality** (-0.34); across the board genuineness +0.07, burst-blend -0.11, speech quality -0.34. Emotionally it reads as Interest (r 0.72), Affection (0.61) and Hope/Enthusiasm/Optimism (0.58), and it moves away from Pain, Fatigue/Exhaustion and Disappointment. On other voice dimensions it co-moves most with Structure (0.76), Smoothness (0.75) and Fullness (0.73), while pulling down Genuineness, Disfluency and Playful Style. Practical call: merge __low at **100–125%**; expect Interest and Structure to rise and speech quality to fall. If you don’t want Interest bleeding in, offset it with a prompt cue toward Pain to keep the arousal shift shift without the side-effect.

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