Neural correlates of up-regulating positive emotions in fMRI and their link to affect in daily life

Abstract Emotion regulation is typically used to down-regulate negative or up-regulate positive emotions. While there is considerable evidence for the neural correlates of the former, less is known about the neural correlates of the latter—and how they are associated with emotion regulation and affect in daily life. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were acquired from 63 healthy young participants (22 ± 1.6 years, 30 female), while they up-regulated their emotions to positive and neutral images or passively watched them. The same participants’ daily affect and emotion regulation behavior was measured using experience sampling over 10 days. Focusing on the ventral striatum (VS), previously associated with positive affective processing, we found increased activation during the up-regulation to both positive and neutral images. VS activation for the former positively correlated with between- and within-person differences in self-reported affective valence during fMRI but was not significantly associated with up-regulation in daily life. However, participants with lower daily affect showed a stronger association between changes in affect and activation in emotion-related (medial frontal and subcortical) regions—including the VS. These results support the involvement of the VS in up-regulating positive emotions and suggest a neurobehavioral link between emotion-related brain activation and daily affect.

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The Influence of Daily Events on Emotion Regulation and Well-Being in Daily Life

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin ◽

10.1177/0146167220980882 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 014616722098088

Author(s):

David B. Newman ◽

John B. Nezlek

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Daily Life ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

Well Being ◽

Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽

Total N ◽

Daily Events ◽

Regulation Strategies ◽

Positive And Negative Emotions

We examined within-person relationships among daily events, emotion regulation strategies, and well-being in daily life. Each day for 2 to 3 weeks, participants in two studies (total N = 445) reported the extent to which they reappraised and suppressed their positive and negative emotions, the types of events they experienced, and their well-being. Using multilevel modeling, we found that the extent to which people reappraised positive and negative emotions and suppressed negative emotions was positively related to the number/importance of daily positive events, whereas the suppression of positive emotions was negatively related. Furthermore, the positive relationships between well-being and reappraisal of positive and negative emotions and the suppression of negative emotions were stronger as the number of negative events increased. These results demonstrate that most emotion regulation strategies are employed when the day is going well but are most beneficial for people’s well-being when the day is not going well.

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Neural correlates of emotional reactivity and regulation in traumatized North Korean refugees

Translational Psychiatry ◽

10.1038/s41398-021-01579-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Kyung Hwa Lee ◽

Ha Young Lee ◽

Inkyung Park ◽

Yu Jin Lee ◽

Nambeom Kim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Emotional Reactivity ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Psychiatric Symptoms ◽

Trauma Exposure ◽

Region Of Interest ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Affective Processing ◽

Post Traumatic Stress ◽

Psychophysiological Interaction

AbstractRefugees often report heightened emotional reactivity and emotion regulation difficulties and are at high risk for mental health problems. Given that refugees are repeatedly exposed to traumatic events that may cause changes in the brain, the present study examined neural correlates of emotional reactivity and regulation and their associations with refugee features (e.g., cumulative trauma) and the severity of psychiatric symptoms (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) in North Korean (NK) refugees. Forty NK refugees with trauma exposure and varying levels of psychopathology and 41 healthy South Korean (SK) controls without trauma exposure participated in this study. They performed an emotion regulation task during a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) assessment. Region of interest (ROI), whole brain, and generalized psychophysiological interaction (gPPI) analyses were conducted. NK refugees with trauma exposure and varying levels of psychopathology showed increased activation in response to negative socio-affective pictures in regions involved in affective processing, including the amygdala and hippocampus, relative to healthy SK controls without trauma exposure. They also exhibited greater prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation, amygdala–PFC functional connectivity (FC), and hippocampal–PFC FC during emotion regulation. More severe PTSD symptoms were associated with greater hippocampal response to negative pictures (vs. neutral pictures) in NK refugees. This study provides neuroscientific evidence for neural alterations in association with emotional reactivity and regulation in traumatized refugees. These findings may contribute to a better mechanistic understanding of emotional reactivity and regulation in refugees and suggest potential ways to address the emotional and mental problems of traumatized refugees.

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Trait Worry and Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000305 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 225 (3) ◽

pp. 214-222 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Marie Kristin Neudert ◽

Rudolf Stark ◽

Laura Kress ◽

Andrea Hermann

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Emotional Processing ◽

Cognitive Reappraisal ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Neural Mechanisms ◽

Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽

Resonance Imaging ◽

Fmri Study ◽

Negative Feelings ◽

Healthy Females

Abstract. Pathological worrying is of high transdiagnostic relevance and is related to maladaptive emotion regulation processes. Dysfunctional emotion regulation and its underlying neural mechanisms might contribute to the maintenance of fear over time. Therefore, this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study aims at investigating the association of trait worry with neural correlates of emotion regulation. Twenty-six healthy females were instructed to passively look at aversive pictures, to distract themselves with a neutral thought, or to down- and up-regulate negative feelings via cognitive reappraisal in response to repeatedly presented aversive pictures. Trait worry was not related to cognitive reappraisal but to distraction, which leads to a greater reduction of self-reported negative feelings and insula activation in individuals with higher trait worry. The current study indicates that the neural mechanisms underlying distraction seem to be altered in pathological worrying and may prevent adaptive emotional processing of aversive stimuli leading to the maintenance of fear.

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Lasting effects of cognitive emotion regulation: neural correlates of reinterpretation and distancing

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience ◽

10.1093/scan/nsaa159 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Andrea Hermann ◽

Marie K Neudert ◽

Axel Schäfer ◽

Raphaela I Zehtner ◽

Susanne Fricke ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Cognitive Reappraisal ◽

Imaging Study ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽

Cognitive Emotion Regulation ◽

Blood Oxygen Level ◽

Emotional Responding ◽

Negative Feelings

Abstract Reinterpretation and distancing are two cognitive reappraisal tactics, used to regulate one’s emotions in response to emotion-eliciting stimuli or situations. Relatively less is known about their (differential) lasting effects on emotional responding and related neural correlates. This functional magnetic resonance imaging study investigated 85 healthy females, participating in a 2-day cognitive emotion regulation experiment. On the first day, participants were instructed to passively look at, reinterpret or distance from repeatedly presented aversive pictures. One week later, they were re-exposed to the same stimuli without regulation instruction, in order to assess lasting effects. The main outcome measures comprised ratings of negative feelings and blood-oxygen-level-dependent responses. Lasting effects for reinterpretation compared with looking at aversive pictures during passive re-exposure 1 week later were reflected in stronger activation of the left amygdala, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and reduced negative feelings. Neither distancing compared with looking at aversive pictures nor reinterpretation compared with distancing did result in significant effects during re-exposure. These findings indicate that reinterpretation leads to reduced negative feelings 1 week later, which might be mediated by inhibitory vmPFC activation or stronger positive emotions during re-exposure. However, the missing difference compared with distancing questions the specificity of the results and the mechanisms underlying these two cognitive reappraisal tactics.

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Assessment of health related issues in individuals’, couples’, and families’ daily life

Zeitschrift für Gesundheitspsychologie ◽

10.1026/0943-8149.16.3.146 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 146-149 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Meinrad Perrez ◽

Michael Reicherts ◽

Yves Hänggi ◽

Andrea B. Horn ◽

Gisela Michel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

Daily Life ◽

Ecological Validity ◽

Reliability And Validity ◽

Well Being ◽

Computer Assisted ◽

Emotional States ◽

Self Reports ◽

Health Related ◽

Lower Variability

Abstract. Most research in health psychology is based on retrospective self reports, which are distorted by recall biases and have low ecological validity. To overcome such limitations we developed computer assisted diary approaches to assess health related behaviours in individuals’, couples’ and families’ daily life. The event- and time-sampling-based instruments serve to assess appraisals of the current situation, feelings of physical discomfort, current emotional states, conflict and emotion regulation in daily life. They have proved sufficient reliability and validity in the context of individual, couple and family research with respect to issues like emotion regulation and health. As examples: Regarding symptom reporting curvilinear pattern of frequencies over the day could be identified by parents and adolescents; or psychological well-being is associated with lower variability in basic affect dimensions. In addition, we report on preventive studies to improve parental skills and enhance their empathic competences towards their baby, and towards their partner.

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