Emotion Regulation Failures Are Preceded by Local Increases in Sleep-like Activity

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Giulia Avvenuti ◽  
Davide Bertelloni ◽  
Giada Lettieri ◽  
Emiliano Ricciardi ◽  
Luca Cecchetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Emotional Dysregulation ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Free Expression ◽  
Functional Explanation ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Emotional Suppression

Abstract Emotion self-regulation relies both on cognitive and behavioral strategies implemented to modulate the subjective experience and/or the behavioral expression of a given emotion. Although it is known that a network encompassing fronto-cingulate and parietal brain areas is engaged during successful emotion regulation, the functional mechanisms underlying failures in emotion suppression (ES) are still unclear. In order to investigate this issue, we analyzed video and high-density EEG recordings of 20 healthy adult participants during an ES and a free expression task performed on two consecutive days. Changes in facial expression during ES, but not free expression, were preceded by local increases in sleep-like activity (1–4 Hz) in brain areas responsible for emotional suppression, including bilateral anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex, and in right middle/inferior frontal gyrus (p < .05, corrected). Moreover, shorter sleep duration the night before the ES experiment correlated with the number of behavioral errors (p = .03) and tended to be associated with higher frontal sleep-like activity during ES failures (p = .09). These results indicate that local sleep-like activity may represent the cause of ES failures in humans and may offer a functional explanation for previous observations linking lack of sleep, changes in frontal activity, and emotional dysregulation.

scholarly journals Emotion suppression failures are associated with local increases in sleep-like activity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Avvenuti ◽  
Davide Bertelloni ◽  
Giada Lettieri ◽  
Emiliano Ricciardi ◽  
Luca Cecchetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Emotional Dysregulation ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Functional Explanation ◽  
Behavioral Strategies ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Emotional Suppression ◽  
Emotion Suppression

AbstractEmotion self-regulation relies both on cognitive and behavioral strategies implemented to modulate the subjective experience and/or the behavioral expression of a given emotion. While it is known that a network encompassing fronto-cingulate and parietal brain areas is engaged during successful emotion regulation, the functional mechanisms underlying failures in emotion suppression are still unclear. In order to investigate this issue, we analyzed video and high-density EEG recordings of nineteen healthy adult subjects during an emotion suppression (ES) and a free expression (FE) task performed on two consecutive days. Changes in facial expression during ES, but not FE, were preceded by local increases in sleep-like activity (1-4Hz) in in brain areas responsible for emotional suppression, including bilateral anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex, and in right middle/inferior frontal gyrus (p<0.05, corrected). Moreover, shorter sleep duration the night prior to the ES experiment correlated with the number of behavioral errors (p=0.01) and tended to be associated with higher frontal sleep-like activity during emotion suppression failures (p=0.05). These results indicate that local sleep-like activity may represent the cause of emotion suppression failures in humans, and may offer a functional explanation for previous observations linking lack of sleep, changes in frontal activity and emotional dysregulation.

scholarly journals Emotion Down- and Up-Regulation Act on Spatially Distinct Brain Areas: Interoceptive Regions to Calm Down and Other Affective Regions to Amp Up

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jungwon Min ◽  
Kaoru Nashiro ◽  
Hyun Joo Yoo ◽  
Christine Cho ◽  
Padideh Nasseri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Periventricular White Matter ◽  
Implicit Assumption ◽  
Cingulate Gyrus ◽  
Anterior Cingulate Gyrus ◽  
Down Regulation ◽  
Brain Areas

AbstractPrior studies on emotion regulation identified a set of brain regions specialized for generating and controlling affect. Researchers generally agree that when up- and down-regulating emotion, control regions in the prefrontal cortex turn up or down activity in affect-generating areas. However, the assumption that turning up and down emotions produces opposite effects in the same affect-generating regions is untested. We call this assumption the ‘affective dial hypothesis.’ Our study tested this hypothesis by examining the overlap between the sets of regions activated during up-regulation and those deactivated during down-regulation in a large number of participants (N=105). We found that up- and down-regulation both recruit regulatory regions such as the inferior frontal gyrus and dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus but act on distinct affect-generating regions. While up-regulation increases BOLD signal in regions associated with emotion such as the amygdala, anterior insula, striatum and anterior cingulate gyrus as well as in regions associated with sympathetic vascular activity such as periventricular white matter, down-regulation decreases signal in regions receiving interoceptive input such as the posterior insula and postcentral gyrus. These findings indicate that up- and down-regulation do not generally exert opposing effects on the same affect-generating regions. Instead, they target different brain circuits.Significance StatementMany contexts require modulating one’s own emotions. Identifying the brain areas implementing these regulatory processes should advance understanding emotional disorders and designing potential interventions. The emotion regulation field has an implicit assumption we call the affective dial hypothesis: that both emotion up- and down-regulation modulate the same emotion-generating brain areas. Countering the hypothesis, our findings indicate that up- and down-modulating emotions target different brain areas. Thus, the mechanisms underlying emotion regulation differ more than previously appreciated for up- versus down-regulation. In addition to their theoretical importance, these findings are critical for researchers attempting to target activity in particular brain regions during an emotion regulation intervention.

Transdiagnostic perspective on psychological inflexibility and emotional dysregulation

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Bruno Faustino
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Cognitive Reappraisal ◽  
Emotional Dysregulation ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽  
Cognitive Fusion ◽  
Psychological Inflexibility ◽  
Emotional Suppression ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Regulation Strategies

Abstract Background: Psychological inflexibility and emotional dysregulation are a hallmark of psychopathology, being intrinsically embedded in emotional and personality disorders. However, the transdiagnostic mechanisms of psychological inflexibility and emotional dysregulation domains are still a matter of discussion. Aims: The present study aims to explore the relationships between cognitive fusion (as a measure of psychological inflexibility), emotion regulation strategies, such as cognitive reappraisal and emotional suppression and emotional dysregulation domains in two different samples. Method: In a cross-sectional design, 297 individuals were assessed with self-report measures and divided into non-clinical (n = 231) and clinical samples (n = 66), according to diagnosis. Results: Results showed that the degree of cognitive fusion was higher in the clinical sample. However, significant correlations between cognitive fusion, emotional regulation strategies and emotional dysregulation domains were found in the two samples. Cognitive reappraisal and emotional dysregulation domains predicted cognitive fusion and mediated the relationship between cognitive fusion and symptomatology in the two samples. Conclusions: Relationships between cognitive fusion and emotional dysregulation domains were found independent of diagnosis. The implementation of emotion regulation strategies may be related to individual differences. However, cognitive fusion, reappraisal and lack of strategies may be core transdiagnostic features in psychological inflexibility and emotion dysregulation.

Data-Driven Approach to the Analysis of Real-Time FMRI Neurofeedback Data: Disorder-Specific Brain Synchrony in PTSD

2021 ◽  
pp. 2150043
Author(s):  
Jana Zweerings ◽  
Kiira Sarasjärvi ◽  
Krystyna Anna Mathiak ◽  
Jorge Iglesias-Fuster ◽  
Fengyu Cong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Data Driven Approach

Brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) can be used in real-time fMRI neurofeedback (rtfMRI NF) investigations to provide feedback on brain activity to enable voluntary regulation of the blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal from localized brain regions. However, the temporal pattern of successful self-regulation is dynamic and complex. In particular, the general linear model (GLM) assumes fixed temporal model functions and misses other dynamics. We propose a novel data-driven analyses approach for rtfMRI NF using intersubject covariance (ISC) analysis. The potential of ISC was examined in a reanalysis of data from 21 healthy individuals and nine patients with post-traumatic stress-disorder (PTSD) performing up-regulation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). ISC in the PTSD group differed from healthy controls in a network including the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). In both cohorts, ISC decreased throughout the experiment indicating the development of individual regulation strategies. ISC analyses are a promising approach to reveal novel information on the mechanisms involved in voluntary self-regulation of brain signals and thus extend the results from GLM-based methods. ISC enables a novel set of research questions that can guide future neurofeedback and neuroimaging investigations.

scholarly journals Inferior Frontal Gyrus-Based Resting-State Functional Connectivity and Medium Dispositional Use of Reappraisal Strategy

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenjuan Li ◽  
Ke Xie ◽  
Ronald K. Ngetich ◽  
Junjun Zhang ◽  
Zhenlan Jin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
The Relationship

The previous neuroimaging functional connectivity analyses have indicated that the association between the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and other brain regions results in better emotion regulation in reappraisal tasks. However, no study has explored the relationship between IFG-based resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) and the dispositional use of reappraisal strategy. Therefore, the present study examined the potential associations between rsFC patterns of both left and right IFG and dispositional reappraisal use. One hundred healthy participants completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) and underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) acquisition. An approach of the seed-based rsFC analysis was recruited to estimate the functional connectivity maps of bilateral IFG with other brain regions, and the reappraisal scores from the ERQ were then correlated with the functional maps. Our findings showed that IFG-based rsFC was positively correlated with dispositional reappraisal only in the range of 4 to 5.5 points [medium reappraisal group (MRG)]. Specifically, medium dispositional reappraisal was positively correlated with rsFC between left/right IFG and bilateral temporal gyrus. Besides, medium dispositional reappraisal was positively correlated with rsFC between left IFG and bilateral superior parietal lobe (SPL), middle cingulate cortex (MCC), and right insula, as well as between right IFG and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). In conclusion, these results indicate that bilateral IFG plays an important role in the medium use of the reappraisal strategy.

scholarly journals Central serotonin modulates neural responses to virtual violent actions in emotion regulation networks

2018 ◽  
Vol 223 (7) ◽  
pp. 3327-3345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dhana Wolf ◽  
Martin Klasen ◽  
Patrick Eisner ◽  
Florian D. Zepf ◽  
Mikhail Zvyagintsev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Ecological Validity ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Receptor Density ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Functional Responses ◽  
Functional Changes ◽  
Patient Groups

Abstract Disruptions in the cortico-limbic emotion regulation networks have been linked to depression, anxiety, impulsivity, and aggression. Altered transmission of the central nervous serotonin (5-HT) contributes to dysfunctions in the cognitive control of emotions. To date, studies relating to pharmaco-fMRI challenging of the 5-HT system have focused on emotion processing for facial expressions. We investigated effects of a single-dose selective 5-HT reuptake inhibitor (escitalopram) on emotion regulation during virtual violence. For this purpose, 38 male participants played a violent video game during fMRI scanning. The SSRI reduced neural responses to violent actions in right-hemispheric inferior frontal gyrus and medial prefrontal cortex encompassing the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), but not to non-violent actions. Within the ACC, the drug effect differentiated areas with high inhibitory 5-HT1A receptor density (subgenual s25) from those with a lower density (pregenual p32, p24). This finding links functional responses during virtual violent actions with 5-HT neurotransmission in emotion regulation networks, underpinning the ecological validity of the 5-HT model in aggressive behavior. Available 5-HT receptor density data suggest that this SSRI effect is only observable when inhibitory and excitatory 5-HT receptors are balanced. The observed early functional changes may impact patient groups receiving SSRI treatment.

scholarly journals Selective Extinction through Cognitive Evaluation: Linking Emotion Regulation and Extinction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birthe Macdonald ◽  
Shannon Jade Wake ◽  
Tom Johnstone
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Conditioned Fear ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Cognitive Emotion Regulation ◽  
Affective Stimuli ◽  
Learned Safety

It has been proposed that the extinction of conditioned fear and the instructed regulation of emotion engage common ventromedial prefrontal (vmPFC) circuitry, indicating common underlying processes. Here we report an fMRI study using a novel task designed to investigate the neural overlap between cognitive emotion regulation and extinction of conditioned fear in a simple and controlled way. Participants were conditioned to expect an electric shock during the presentation of one of two letters (CS+ and CS-). In a second phase, the same letters were presented within words belonging to two distinct semantic categories. Participants were told that one of these categories would indicate safety from shock. We hypothesised that cognitive processing of words from the safety category would lead participants to engage neural circuitry involved in extinction and learned safety, and lead to reduced conditioned responses in limbic circuitry. The contrast between safe and dangerous CS+ trials revealed activation in a network of brain regions including left inferior frontal gyrus, as well as bilateral temporal and parietal cortices, though no activation in vmPFC was observed. Clusters in bilateral insula and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), part of the network typically associated with anticipation and experience of pain, showed activation for dangerous CS+ trials that was reduced for safe CS+ trials. These results suggest that the task elicited the expected aversive conditioned response during trials that remained dangerous, whereas a semantically based cognitive control mechanism down-regulated this response during safe trials. Results from this task were also compared with those from a modified version of an instructed emotion regulation task using negative IAPS images as affective stimuli. A voxelwise conjunction analysis showed no significant overlap between the two tasks, suggesting that the neural mechanisms involved in both types of emotion regulation may be largely distinct.

scholarly journals Common Brain Substrates Underlying Auditory Speech Priming and Perceived Spatial Separation

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junxian Wang ◽  
Jing Chen ◽  
Xiaodong Yang ◽  
Lei Liu ◽  
Chao Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Spatial Separation ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Cocktail Party ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Motor Representation ◽  
Auditory Speech ◽  
Perceived Spatial Separation

Under a “cocktail party” environment, listeners can utilize prior knowledge of the content and voice of the target speech [i.e., auditory speech priming (ASP)] and perceived spatial separation to improve recognition of the target speech among masking speech. Previous studies suggest that these two unmasking cues are not processed independently. However, it is unclear whether the unmasking effects of these two cues are supported by common neural bases. In the current study, we aimed to first confirm that ASP and perceived spatial separation contribute to the improvement of speech recognition interactively in a multitalker condition and further investigate whether there exist intersectant brain substrates underlying both unmasking effects, by introducing these two unmasking cues in a unified paradigm and using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The results showed that neural activations by the unmasking effects of ASP and perceived separation partly overlapped in brain areas: the left pars triangularis (TriIFG) and orbitalis of the inferior frontal gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, left supramarginal gyrus, and bilateral putamen, all of which are involved in the sensorimotor integration and the speech production. The activations of the left TriIFG were correlated with behavioral improvements caused by ASP and perceived separation. Meanwhile, ASP and perceived separation also enhanced the functional connectivity between the left IFG and brain areas related to the suppression of distractive speech signals: the anterior cingulate cortex and the left middle frontal gyrus, respectively. Therefore, these findings suggest that the motor representation of speech is important for both the unmasking effects of ASP and perceived separation and highlight the critical role of the left IFG in these unmasking effects in “cocktail party” environments.

scholarly journals Altered Resting-State Amygdala Functional Connectivity after Real-Time fMRI Emotion Self-Regulation Training

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhonglin Li ◽  
Li Tong ◽  
Min Guan ◽  
Wenjie He ◽  
Linyuan Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Basolateral Amygdala ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
Study Participants

Real-time fMRI neurofeedback (rtfMRI-nf) is a promising tool for enhancing emotion regulation capability of subjects and for the potential alleviation of neuropsychiatric disorders. The amygdala is composed of structurally and functionally distinct nuclei, such as the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and centromedial amygdala (CMA), both of which are involved in emotion processing, generation, and regulation. However, the effect of rtfMRI-nf on the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of BLA and CMA remains to be elucidated. In our study, participants were provided with ongoing information on their emotion states by using real-time multivariate voxel pattern analysis. Results showed that participants presented significantly increased rsFC of BLA and CMA with prefrontal cortex, rostral anterior cingulate cortex, and some others related to emotion after rtfMRI-nf training. The findings provide important evidence for the emotion regulation effectiveness of rtfMRI-nf training and indicate its usefulness as a tool for the self-regulation of emotion.

Parasympathetic Concomitants of Habitual, Spontaneous, and Instructed Emotional Suppression

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asmir Gračanin ◽  
Igor Kardum ◽  
Jasna Hudek-Knežević
Keyword(s):  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Experimental Manipulation ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Integration Model ◽  
Sinus Arrhythmia ◽  
Emotional Suppression ◽  
Emotion Experience ◽  
Similar Relation

Abstract. The neurovisceral integration model proposes that different forms of self-regulation, including the emotional suppression, are characterized by the activation of neural network whose workings are also reflected in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). However, most of the previous studies failed to observe theoretically expected increases in RSA during emotional suppression. Even when such effects were observed, it was not clear whether they resulted from specific task demands, a decrease in muscle activity, or they were the consequence of more specific self-control processes. We investigated the relation between habitual or trait-like suppression, spontaneous, and instructed suppression with changes in RSA during negative emotion experience. A modest positive correlation between spontaneous situational and habitual suppression was observed across two experimental tasks. Furthermore, the results showed greater RSA increase among participants who experienced higher negative affect (NA) increase and reported higher spontaneous suppression than among those with higher NA increase and lower spontaneous suppression. Importantly, this effect was independent from the habitual suppression and observable facial expressions. The results of the additional task based on experimental manipulation, rather than spontaneous use of situational suppression, indicated a similar relation between suppression and RSA. Our results consistently demonstrate that emotional suppression, especially its self-regulation component, is followed by the increase in parasympathetic activity.

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