scholarly journals There Is More to Mindfulness Than Emotion Regulation: A Study on Brain Structural Networks

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabina Baltruschat ◽  
Antonio Cándido ◽  
Antonio Maldonado ◽  
Carmen Verdejo-Lucas ◽  
Elvira Catena-Verdejo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire ◽  
Dispositional Mindfulness ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Structural Networks

Dispositional mindfulness and emotion regulation are two psychological constructs closely interrelated, and both appear to improve with the long-term practice of mindfulness meditation. These constructs appear to be related to subcortical, prefrontal, and posterior brain areas involved in emotional processing, cognitive control, self-awareness, and mind wandering. However, no studies have yet discerned the neural basis of dispositional mindfulness that are minimally associated with emotion regulation. In the present study, we use a novel brain structural network analysis approach to study the relationship between structural networks and dispositional mindfulness, measured with two different and widely used instruments [Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ)], taking into account the effect of emotion regulation difficulties. We observed a number of different brain regions associated with the different scales and dimensions. The total score of FFMQ and MAAS overlap with the bilateral parahippocampal and fusiform gyri. Additionally, MAAS scores were related to the bilateral hippocampus and the FFMQ total score to the right insula and bilateral amygdala. These results indicate that, depending on the instrument used, the characteristics measured could differ and could also involve different brain systems. However, it seems that brain areas related to emotional reactivity and semantic processing are generally related to Dispositional or trait mindfulness (DM), regardless of the instrument used.

scholarly journals Multi-Level Processes and Retina–Brain Pathways of Photic Regulation of Mood

2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 448
Author(s):  
Julia Maruani ◽  
Pierre A. Geoffroy
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Biological Rhythms ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Lateral Habenula ◽  
Light Effects ◽  
Brain Pathways ◽  
The Impact

Light exerts powerful biological effects on mood regulation. Whereas the source of photic information affecting mood is well established at least via intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) secreting the melanopsin photopigment, the precise circuits that mediate the impact of light on depressive behaviors are not well understood. This review proposes two distinct retina–brain pathways of light effects on mood: (i) a suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)-dependent pathway with light effect on mood via the synchronization of biological rhythms, and (ii) a SCN-independent pathway with light effects on mood through modulation of the homeostatic process of sleep, alertness and emotion regulation: (1) light directly inhibits brain areas promoting sleep such as the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO), and activates numerous brain areas involved in alertness such as, monoaminergic areas, thalamic regions and hypothalamic regions including orexin areas; (2) moreover, light seems to modulate mood through orexin-, serotonin- and dopamine-dependent pathways; (3) in addition, light activates brain emotional processing areas including the amygdala, the nucleus accumbens, the perihabenular nucleus, the left hippocampus and pathways such as the retina–ventral lateral geniculate nucleus and intergeniculate leaflet–lateral habenula pathway. This work synthetizes new insights into the neural basis required for light influence mood

Neural correlates of emotional reactivity and regulation in youth with and without anxiety

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Namita Tanya Padgaonkar ◽  
Jessica Uy ◽  
Samantha DePasque ◽  
Adriana Galván ◽  
Tara Peris
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Emotion Dysregulation ◽  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Frontal Pole ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Youth Anxiety ◽  
Age Dependent ◽  
Regulatory Capacity ◽  
Anxious Youth

Background: Youth with anxiety disorders struggle with managing emotions relative to peers, but the neural basis of this difference has not been examined. Methods: Youth (Mage=13.6; range=8-17) with (n=37) and without (n=24) anxiety disorders completed a cognitive reappraisal task while undergoing fMRI. Emotional reactivity and regulation, functional activation, and beta-series connectivity were compared across groups. Results: Groups did not differ on emotional reactivity or regulation. However, affect ratings and fronto-limbic activation after viewing aversive imagery (with and without regulation) were higher for anxious youth. Anxious youth did not demonstrate age-dependent changes in regulation, whereas regulation in control youth increased linearly. Stronger amygdala-vmPFC connectivity related to greater anxiety in control youth, but less anxiety in anxious youth. Stronger amygdala-frontal pole connectivity related to worse emotion regulation in control youth, but better emotion regulation in anxious youth. Conclusions: Anxious youth regulate when instructed, but this does not relate to age. Viewing aversive imagery related to heightened negative affect even after reappraisal, accompanied by higher fronto-limbic activation. Emotion dysregulation in youth anxiety disorders may stem from heightened emotionality and potent bottom-up neurobiological responses to aversive stimuli. Findings suggest the importance of treatments focused on both reducing initial emotional reactivity and bolstering regulatory capacity.

scholarly journals Different Brain Activation after Acupuncture at Combined Acupoints and Single Acupoint in Hypertension Patients: An Rs-fMRI Study Based on ReHo Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiping Zhang ◽  
Xiaowen Cai ◽  
Yanjie Wang ◽  
Yu Zheng ◽  
Shanshan Qu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Production ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Acupuncture Treatment ◽  
Image Data ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Primary Study ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Group 3

Background. Acupuncture is proved to be effective on hypertension by numerous studies and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (Rs-fMRI) is a widely used technique to study its mechanism. Along with lower blood pressure, patients with hypertension receiving acupuncture also presented improvement in function of cognition, emotion, language, sematic sensation, and so on. This study was a primary study to explore the acting path of acupuncture at combined acupoints in stimulated brain areas related to such functions. Methods. In this research, regional homogeneity (ReHo) was applied to analyze the Rs-fMRI image data of brain activities after acupuncture at LR3, KI3, and LR3+KI3 and to compare the differences of functional brain activities between stimulating combined acupoints and single acupoint under pathological conditions. A total of thirty hypertension patients underwent Rs-fMRI scanning before acupuncture treatment and then were randomly divided into three groups following random number table, the LR3 group (3 males and 7 females), the KI3 group (3 males and 7 females), and the LR3+ KI3 group (4 males and 6 females) for needling, respectively. When the 30-min treatment finished, they received a further Rs-fMRI scanning. The Rs-fMRI data before and after the acupuncture treatment were analyzed through ReHo. Results. Compared with preacupuncture, respectively, ReHo values increased in Brodmann areas (BAs) 3, 18, and 40 and decreased in BAs 7 and 31 in LR3+ KI3 group. However, ReHo values only decreased in BA7 of KI3 group while the results showed no significant difference of brain regions in LR3 group between pre- and postacupuncture. Compared with LR3 group, LR3+KI3 group exhibited decreased ReHo values in BAs 7, 9, and 31. Meanwhile, compared with KI3 group, LR3+KI3 group exhibited increased ReHo values in the BAs 2, 18, 30, and 40 and decreased ReHo values in BA13. Conclusion. Combined acupoints of LR3 and KI3 could act on wider brain areas than the sum of single acupoints, whose functions include emotional processing, cognition, somatic sensation, spatial orientation, language production, and vision.

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.

Visualizing Risky Behaviors Induces a Stronger Neural Response in Brain Areas Responsible for Mental Imagery and Emotions Than Visualizing Neutral Behaviors

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz Zaleskiewicz ◽  
Jakub Traczyk ◽  
Agata Sobkow ◽  
Kamil Fulawka ◽  
Alberto Megías-Robles
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Mental Imagery ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Risky Behaviors ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Neural Response ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Mental Images ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Decision Outcomes

Abstract In the present study, we used a neuroimaging technique (fMRI) to test the prediction that visualizing risky behaviors induces a stronger neural response in brain areas responsible for emotions and mental imagery than visualizing neutral behaviors. We identified several brain regions that were activated when participants produced mental images of risky versus neutral behaviors and these regions overlap with brain areas engaged in visual mental imagery, speech imagery and movement imagery. We also found that producing mental images of risky behaviors, in contrast to neutral behaviors, increased neural activation in the insula – a region engaged in emotional processing. This finding is in line with previous results demonstrating that the insula is recruited by tasks involving induction of emotional recall/imagery. Finally, we observed an increased BOLD signal in the cingulate gyrus (mid-cingulate area), which is associated with reward-based decision making and monitoring of decision outcomes. In summary, we demonstrated that mental images of risky behaviors, compared to risk-free behaviors, increased neural activation in brain areas engaged in mental imagery processes, emotional processing and decision making. These findings imply that the evaluation of everyday risky situations may originate in visualizing the potential consequences of risk taking and may be driven by emotional responses that result from mental imagery.

scholarly journals Decreased emotional reactivity after 3-month socio-affective but not attention- or meta-cognitive-based mental training: A randomized, controlled fMRI study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Favre ◽  
Philipp Kanske ◽  
Haakon Engen ◽  
Tania Singer
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Mental Practice ◽  
Mental Training ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Emotion Reactivity ◽  
Training Interventions ◽  
Before And After

Meditation-based mental training interventions show great benefits for physical and mental health. However, it remains unclear how different types of mental practice differentially affect emotion processing at both the neuronal and the behavioural level. In the context of the ReSource project, 332 participants underwent an fMRI scan while performing an emotion reactivity task before and after three 3-month training modules cultivating 1) attention and interoceptive awareness (Presence); 2) socio-affective skills, such as compassion (Affect); 3) socio-cognitive skills, such as theory of mind (Perspective). Only the Affect module led to a significant reduction of experienced negative affect when processing images depicting human suffering. This decrease in emotion reactivity was associated with increased activation in cognitive control and emotion-regulation regions such as lateral parietal and prefrontal brain regions. We conclude that socio-affective, but not attention- or meta-cognitive based mental training is specifically efficient to improve emotion regulation capacities when facing adversity.

scholarly journals Gender Differences in Functional Connectivity during Emotion Regulation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teodora Stoica ◽  
Lindsay Knight ◽  
Farah Naaz ◽  
Samantha Patton ◽  
Brendan Depue
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Affective Disorders ◽  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Aversive Stimulus ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Neural Basis

Gender differences in emotion regulation (ER) have been postulated, yet their neural basis remains poorly understood. The goal of this study was to investigate this issue from a functional connectivity (FC) perspective. Utilizing a region of interest (ROI) analysis, we investigated whether men and women (N=48) differed in their FC pattern while viewing versus regulating negative emotion induced by highly salient pictures, and whether this pattern related to their self-reported negative affect and suppression success. Despite women reporting more negative affect, both genders had comparable suppression success. Moreover, differences emerged between men and women’s FC patterns. During the regulation of negative emotion, better suppression in women was associated with stronger FC within a cingulo-opercular network, while men exhibited stronger FC within posterior regions of the ventral attentional network. We conclude that due to their propensity for higher emotional reactivity, women may employ a frontal top-down control network to downregulate negative emotion, while men may redirect attention away from the aversive stimulus by using posterior regions of the ventral attention network. The findings may have significant implications for understanding women’s vulnerability for developing affective disorders and developing targeted individualized treatment.

scholarly journals Neurocognitive Basis of Schizophrenia: Information Processing Abnormalities and Clues for Treatment

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Aleman
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Social Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Cognition And Emotion ◽  
The Past

Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe psychiatric disorder that affects all aspects of patients’ lives. Over the past decades, research applying methods from psychology and neuroscience has increasingly been zooming in on specific information processing abnormalities in schizophrenia. Impaired activation of and connectivity between frontotemporal, frontoparietal, and frontostriatal brain networks subserving cognitive functioning and integration of cognition and emotion has been consistently reported. Major issues in schizophrenia research concern the cognitive and neural basis of hallucinations, abnormalities in cognitive-emotional processing, social cognition (including theory of mind), poor awareness of illness, and apathy. Recent findings from cognitive neuroscience studies in these areas are discussed. The findings may have implications for treatment, for example, noninvasive neurostimulation of specific brain areas. Ultimately, a better understanding of the cognitive neuroscience of schizophrenia will pave the way for the development of effective treatment strategies.

scholarly journals Decreased emotional reactivity after 3-month socio-affective but not attention- or meta-cognitive-based mental training: A randomized, controlled fMRI study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Favre ◽  
Philipp Kanske ◽  
Haakon Engen ◽  
Tania Singer
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Mental Practice ◽  
Mental Training ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Emotion Reactivity ◽  
Training Interventions ◽  
Before And After

Meditation-based mental training interventions show great benefits for physical and mental health. However, it remains unclear how different types of mental practice differentially affect emotion processing at both the neuronal and the behavioural level. In the context of the ReSource project, 332 participants underwent an fMRI scan while performing an emotion reactivity task before and after three 3-month training modules cultivating 1) attention and interoceptive awareness (Presence); 2) socio-affective skills, such as compassion (Affect); 3) socio-cognitive skills, such as theory of mind (Perspective). Only the Affect module led to a significant reduction of experienced negative affect when processing images depicting human suffering. This decrease in emotion reactivity was associated with increased activation in cognitive control and emotion-regulation regions such as lateral parietal and prefrontal brain regions. We conclude that socio-affective, but not attention- or meta-cognitive based mental training is specifically efficient to improve emotion regulation capacities when facing adversity.

Emotional Reactivity to Visual Content as Revealed by ERP Component Clustering

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 135-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslaw Wyczesany ◽  
Szczepan J. Grzybowski ◽  
Jan Kaiser
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Affective State ◽  
Occipital Lobe ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In the study, the neural basis of emotional reactivity was investigated. Reactivity was operationalized as the impact of emotional pictures on the self-reported ongoing affective state. It was used to divide the subjects into high- and low-responders groups. Independent sources of brain activity were identified, localized with the DIPFIT method, and clustered across subjects to analyse the visual evoked potentials to affective pictures. Four of the identified clusters revealed effects of reactivity. The earliest two started about 120 ms from the stimulus onset and were located in the occipital lobe and the right temporoparietal junction. Another two with a latency of 200 ms were found in the orbitofrontal and the right dorsolateral cortices. Additionally, differences in pre-stimulus alpha level over the visual cortex were observed between the groups. The attentional modulation of perceptual processes is proposed as an early source of emotional reactivity, which forms an automatic mechanism of affective control. The role of top-down processes in affective appraisal and, finally, the experience of ongoing emotional states is also discussed.

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