认知重评和表达抑制情绪调节策略的脑网络分析：来自EEG和ERP的证据

本文旨在对认知重评和表达抑制两种常用情绪调节策略的自发脑网络特征及认知神经活动进行深入探讨。研究采集36名在校大学生的静息态和任务态脑电数据, 经过源定位和图论分析发现节点效率与两种情绪调节显著相关的脑区, 以及脑区之间的功能连接。研究结果表明, 在使用认知重评进行情绪调节时会激活前额叶皮质、前扣带回、顶叶、海马旁回和枕叶等多个脑区, 在使用表达抑制进行情绪调节时会激活前额叶皮质、顶叶、海马旁回、枕叶、颞叶和脑岛等多个脑区。因此, 这些脑区的节点效率或功能连接强度可能成为评估个体使用认知重评和表达抑制调节情绪效果的指标。     

Neuroticism and psychopathy predict brain activation during moral and nonmoral emotion regulation

Functional neuroimaging has identified brain regions associated with voluntary regulation of emotion, including the prefrontal cortex and amygdala. The neural mechanisms underlying individual differences in emotion regulation have not been extensively studied. We investigated the neural correlates of neuroticism and psychopathic personality traits in the context of an emotion regulation task. Results showed that amygdala activity elicited by unpleasant pictures was positively correlated with neuroticism and negatively correlated with a specific psychopathic trait related to emotional underreactivity. During active attempts to decrease emotional responses to unpleasant pictures, superior and ventrolateral prefrontal activity was positively correlated with psychopathy, but not with neuroticism. In contrast, dorsolateral prefrontal activity was positively correlated with neuroticism, but not with psychopathy. Psychopathy was also negatively correlated with medial prefrontal activity in response to pictures depicting moral violations, suggesting reduced emotional responses to moral stimuli in individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits. These results demonstrate dissociable influences of different personality traits on neural activity associated with responses to emotional stimuli and on the recruitment of regulation-related brain activity during the active down-regulation of responses to negative emotional stimuli. These results have implications for the etiology of trait-based psychopathology involving emotional dysregulation.     

Developing connections for affective regulation: age-related changes in emotional brain connectivity

The regulation of affective arousal is a critical aspect of children’s social and cognitive development. However, few studies have examined the brain mechanisms involved in the development of this aspect of “hot” executive functioning. This process has been conceptualized as involving prefrontal control of the amygdala. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated the brain mechanisms involved in the development of affective regulation in typically developing 5- to 11-year-olds and an adult comparison sample. Children and adults displayed differing patterns of increased anterior cingulate cortex and decreased amygdala activation during episodes in which emotion regulation was required. Specifically, amygdala activation increased in adults but decreased in children during recovery from a frustrating episode. In addition, we used effective connectivity analyses to investigate differential correlations between key emotional brain areas in response to the regulatory task demands. We found reliable increases in effective connectivity between the anterior cingulate cortex and the amygdala during periods of increased demand for emotion regulation. This effective connectivity increased with age.     

青少年抑郁及其自动情绪调节的研究概述

本文旨在梳理近年来国内外青少年抑郁及其自动情绪调节在相关研究领域的研究成果,以进一步促进青少年抑郁的自动情绪调节研究。首先,阐明了青少年脑发展与抑郁之间的关系,并概括了三种青少年抑郁模型。然后,澄清了自动情绪调节的内涵和经典范式,而且从时间和空间方面,总结了青少年抑郁的自动情绪调节的神经机制的相关文献。最后,未来要加强功能连接研究,采用经颅直流电刺激(t DCS)、重复经颅磁刺激(r TMS)技术开展干预研究。     

反刍思维的脑功能网络机制

反刍思维是指个体在经历了消极生活事件后不由自主地反复思考该事件的产生原因、经过和结果, 表现出负性自我参照加工、消极情绪性以及持续性的特点。采用脑功能网络分析方法, 研究者发现反刍思维的上述三个特点分别与默认网络内部的异常活动模式、突显网络功能连接的改变以及注意相关网络之间的异常耦合有关。未来研究应进一步明确反刍思维与相关脑网络活动之间的因果关系, 探究反刍思维脑功能网络的结构基础, 同时也应关注反刍思维及其脑网络的老龄化特征, 并致力于探索有效干预反刍思维的神经调控技术。     

晚期正成分的时间-空间迁移模式在情绪调节发展研究中的应用

近二十年,使用认知神经科学手段探讨情绪调节成为了研究的热点。晚期正成分(Late Positive Potential,LPP)是情绪调节脑电研究中的一个典型成分,在不同的时间窗中分析LPP的波幅的变化及其优势激活脑区的迁移能够反映情绪调节加工过程中个体由对情绪刺激的感知到相应的认知调控过程的转变。LPP的时间-空间迁移模式被应用于情绪调节的发展研究,揭示从童年到青少年再到成年期个体情绪的潜在神经机制。研究者关注幼儿期、童年期、青少期、成人期个体在情绪调节加工过程中LPP波幅的变化及其时间-空间迁移模式特征,把不同年龄段个体情绪调节的发展特点与其大脑关键脑区(主要是前额叶)发育状况进行联系,为儿童身体发育和心理发展的主题提供更多的证据支持。未来的研究应加强对LPP在异常发展研究中应用,关注大脑发育与激素变化对LPP变化的影响,并加强对LPP调节效应的个体差异等问题的探讨。     

Neurofunctional correlates of expressed vocal affect in social phobia

We investigated the neural correlates of expressed vocal affect in patients with social phobia. A group of 36 patients performed an anxiogenic public-speaking task while regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was assessed using oxygen-15 positron emission tomography. The patients’ speech was recorded and content masked using low-pass filtering (which obscures linguistic content but preserves nonverbal affective cues). The content-masked speech samples were then evaluated with regard to their level of vocally expressed nervousness. We hypothesized that activity in prefrontal and subcortical brain areas previously implicated in emotion regulation would be associated with the degree of expressed vocal affect. Regression analyses accordingly revealed significant negative correlations between expressed vocal affect and rCBF in inferior frontal gyrus, putamen, and hippocampus. Further, functional connectivity was revealed between inferior frontal gyrus and (a) anterior cingulate cortex and (b) amygdala and basal ganglia. We suggest that brain areas important for emotion regulation may also form part of a network associated with the modulation of affective prosody in social phobia.     

Overlapping neural substrates between intentional and incidental down-regulation of negative emotions

Emotion regulation can be achieved in various ways, but few studies have evaluated the extent to which the neurocognitive substrates of these distinct operations overlap. In the study reported here, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure activity in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex of 10 participants who completed two independent tasks of emotion regulation-reappraisal, measuring intentional emotion regulation, and affect labeling, measuring incidental emotion regulation-with the objective of identifying potential overlap in the neural substrates underlying each task. Analyses focused on a priori regions of interest in the amygdala and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). For both tasks, fMRI showed decreased amygdala activation during emotion regulation compared with emotion conditions. During reappraisal, this decrease in amygdala activation was accompanied by a proportional decrease in emotional intensity ratings; during affect labeling, the decrease in amygdala activation correlated with self-reported aggression. Importantly, across participants, the magnitude of decrease in amygdala activation during reappraisal correlated with the magnitude of decrease during affect labeling, even though the tasks were administered on separate days, and values indexing amygdala activation during each task were extracted independently of one another. In addition, IFG-amygdala connectivity, assessed via psychophysiological interaction analysis, overlapped between tasks in two regions within the right IFG. The results suggest that the two tasks recruit overlapping regions of prefrontal cortex, resulting in similar reductions in amygdala activation, regardless of the strategy employed. Intentional and incidental forms of emotion regulation, despite their phenomenological differences, may therefore converge on a common neurocognitive pathway.     

Now you feel it, now you don't: frontal brain electrical asymmetry and individual differences in emotion regulation

Recent theoretical accounts of emotion regulation assign an important role in this process to the prefrontal cortex, yet there is little relevant data available to support this hypothesis. The current study assessed the relation between individual differences in asymmetric prefrontal activation and an objective measure of uninstructed emotion regulation. Forty-seven participants 57 to 60 years old viewed emotionally arousing and neutral visual stimuli while eyeblink startle data were collected. Startle probes were also presented after picture presentation to capture the persistence or attenuation of affect following the offset of an emotional stimulus. Subjects with greater relative left-sided anterior activation in scalp-recorded brain electrical signals displayed attenuated startle magnitude after the offset of negative stimuli. This relation between resting frontal activation and recovery following an aversive event supports the idea of a frontally mediated mechanism involved in one form of automatic emotion regulation.     

Extraversion modulates functional connectivity hubs of resting‐state brain networks

Personality dimension extraversion describes individual differences in social behaviour and socio‐emotional functioning. The intrinsic functional connectivity patterns of the brain are reportedly associated with extraversion. However, whether or not extraversion is associated with functional hubs warrants clarification. Functional hubs are involved in the rapid integration of neural processing, and their dysfunction contributes to the development of neuropsychiatric disorders. In this study, we employed the functional connectivity density (FCD) method for the first time to distinguish the energy‐efficient hubs associated with extraversion. The resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 71 healthy subjects were used in the analysis. Short‐range FCD was positively correlated with extraversion in the left cuneus, revealing a link between the local functional activity of this region and extraversion in risk‐taking. Long‐range FCD was negatively correlated with extraversion in the right superior frontal gyrus and the inferior frontal gyrus. Seed‐based resting‐state functional connectivity (RSFC) analyses revealed that a decreased long‐range FCD in individuals with high extraversion scores showed a low long‐range functional connectivity pattern between the medial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, middle temporal gyrus, and anterior cingulate cortex. This result suggests that decreased RSFC patterns are responsible for self‐esteem, self‐evaluation, and inhibitory behaviour system that account for the modulation and shaping of extraversion. Overall, our results emphasize specific brain hubs, and reveal long‐range functional connections in relation to extraversion, thereby providing a neurobiological basis of extraversion.     

Dimensional emotions are represented by distinct topographical brain networks

The ability to recognize others’ facial emotions has become increasingly important after the COVID-19 pandemic, which causes stressful situations in emotion regulation. Considering the importance of emotion in maintaining a social life, emotion knowledge to perceive and label emotions of oneself and others requires an understanding of affective dimensions, such as emotional valence and emotional arousal. However, limited information is available about whether the behavioral representation of affective dimensions is similar to their neural representation. To explore the relationship between the brain and behavior in the representational geometries of affective dimensions, we constructed a behavioral paradigm in which emotional faces were categorized into geometric spaces along the valence, arousal, and valence and arousal dimensions. Moreover, we compared such representations to neural representations of the faces acquired by functional magnetic resonance imaging. We found that affective dimensions were similarly represented in the behavior and brain. Specifically, behavioral and neural representations of valence were less similar to those of arousal. We also found that valence was represented in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, frontal eye fields, precuneus, and early visual cortex, whereas arousal was represented in the cingulate gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex, fusiform gyrus, and early visual cortex. In conclusion, the current study suggests that dimensional emotions are similarly represented in the behavior and brain and are presented with differential topographical organizations in the brain.     

Emotion and cognition: feeling and character identification in dreaming

This study investigated the relationship between dream emotion and dream character identification. Thirty-five subjects provided 320 dream reports and answers to questions on characters that appeared in their dreams. We found that emotions are almost always evoked by our dream characters and that they are often used as a basis for identifying them. We found that affection and joy were commonly associated with known characters and were used to identify them even when these emotional attributes were inconsistent with those of the waking state. These findings are consistent with the finding that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, associated with short-term memory, is less active in the dreaming compared to the wake brain, while the paleocortical and subcortical limbic areas are more active. The findings are also consistent with the suggestion that these limbic areas have minimal input from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the dreaming brain.     

内疚的认知和情绪活动及其脑区调控

内疚是个体做出危害他人的行为或违反道德准则之后产生的良心上的反省, 对行为负有责任的一种负性体验。内疚在道德规范和人际社会中具有重要的作用。研究者主要采取自我报告范式、情境模拟范式、过失范式和经济博弈范式考察内疚的发生发展及其功能。近年来, 研究者尝试揭示内疚脑机制, 研究发现内疚主要激活前额叶皮层和脑岛等脑区, 前额叶可能与内疚的认知成分相关, 而脑岛主要与内疚的情绪成分相关。未来的研究需要采用多种技术手段进一步考察内疚的认知神经机制。     

Cognitive reappraisal reduces perceived exertion during endurance exercise

Emotion regulation may influence psychological responses to exercise. We examined whether the emotion regulation strategies, cognitive reappraisal and distraction, influenced psychological state and prefrontal cortex oxygenation during endurance exercise. Twenty-four endurance runners ran for 90 min at 75–85% maximum heart rate in three separate sessions with no instruction or with instructions to use cognitive reappraisal or distraction. Participants rated their emotional arousal, emotional valence, and perceived exertion before, every 30 min during, and after exercise. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy quantified changes in prefrontal cortex oxygenation. Participants felt lower emotional arousal and physical exertion when instructed to utilize cognitive reappraisal than when given no emotion regulation instruction. Such responses to distraction did not differ from the other conditions. Emotion regulation strategies did not influence emotional valence or prefrontal cortex oxygenation. Participants’ analytical interpretation of the cognitive reappraisal instruction could contribute to small effect sizes and limited effects. Further research should determine contexts under which emotion regulation strategies most benefit endurance exercise experience.     

Functional neuroimaging studies of human emotions

Neuroimaging studies with positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging have begun to describe the functional neuroanatomy of human emotion. Taken separately, specific studies vary in task dimensions and in type(s) of emotion studied, and are limited by statistical power and sensitivity. By examining findings across studies in a meta-analysis, we sought to determine if common or segregated patterns of activations exist in different emotions and across various emotional tasks. We surveyed over 55 positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging activation studies, which investigated emotion in healthy subjects. This paper will review observations in several regions of interest in limbic (eg, amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex) and paralimbic (eg, medial prefrontal cortex, insula) brain regions in emotional responding.     

Feeling bad about screwing up: emotion regulation and action monitoring in the anterior cingulate cortex

This study examined neural features of emotional responses to errors. We specifically examined whether directed emotion regulation of negative emotion associated with error modulates action-monitoring functions of anterior cingulate cortex, including conflict monitoring, error processing, and error prevention. Seventeen healthy adults performed a continuous performance task during assessment by fMRI. In each block, participants were asked either to increase or decrease their negative emotional responses or to react naturally after error commission. Emotion regulation instructions were associated with modulation of rostral and dorsal anterior activity and of their effective connectivity following errors and conflict. Cingulate activity and connectivity predicted subsequent errors. These data may suggest that responses to errors are affected by emotion and that aspects of emotion and cognition are inextricably linked, even during a nominally cognitive task.     

情感风格及其神经基础

情感风格是个体在情绪反应与情绪调节等方面表现出的稳定的、一致性差异。情感风格的两个主要成分是情绪反应与情绪调节差异。情感风格与情绪恢复性、趋近——退缩系统、精神疾病的易感性等密切相关。前额皮层、前扣带皮层、杏仁核等及其构成的神经回路的结构与机能差异是情感风格的神经基础。     

前额叶皮质损伤患者的情绪异常

人类前额叶皮质与情绪之间有着密切的关系,文章在相关的临床和神经成像研究结果基础上,分析了前额叶皮质损伤对情绪行为造成的影响,分别概述了精神分裂症、重性抑郁和焦虑患者的情绪变化、前额叶切除对情绪的影响以及左右前额叶皮质与情绪的关系,重点阐述了前额叶功能异常的神经生理学特点,认为情绪的改变会随着前额叶皮质不同部位的结构缺损或功能变化而有所不同,此有利于对前额叶皮质损伤患者情绪异常的评价与防治。     

右腹外侧前额叶对高抑郁水平成年人社会情绪调节的作用：一项tDCS研究

已有的经颅直流电刺激(transcranial direct current stimulation, tDCS)研究证明, 右腹外侧前额叶(right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, RVLPFC)是社会情绪调节的重要脑区, 激活RVLPFC可显著降低人们对社会性负性情绪体验的强度。社会功能受损是抑郁症患者或抑郁倾向人群的重要特征之一。该群体对社会排斥的敏感性高, 且对负性社会情绪体验的情绪调节能力降低。在本研究中, 我们采用外显的情绪调节任务, 研究了高、低抑郁水平的两组成年人被试在RVLPFC接受阳性tDCS后其情绪调节能力的改变。结果表明, 虽然采用tDCS激活RVLPFC可帮助被试通过情绪调节(认知重评)减弱负性情绪体验, 但高抑郁水平被试的负性情绪强度下降程度明显小于低抑郁水平被试。另外本文还发现, 与源于个人的负性情绪相比, tDCS效应对源于社会的负性情绪(即社会排斥)更强。本研究是采用电或磁刺激提高抑郁人群社会情绪调节能力的首次尝试。实验结果表明, 高抑郁水平成年人的RVLPFC仅通过单次、短时间(34 min)的tDCS激活, 其情绪调节能力并未得到显著提升。这提示对抑郁倾向群体或抑郁症患者的干预或治疗需要多次施加tDCS。