Psychiatric University Hospital, University of Zürich, Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Neuroimage. 2010 Apr 1;50(2):734-41. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.12.089. Epub 2010 Jan 4.
The regulation of emotions is an ongoing internal process and often a challenge. Current related neural models concern the intended control of reactions towards external events, mediated by prefrontal cortex regions upon basal emotion processing as in the amygdala. Cognitive strategies to regulate emotions in the context of affective disorders or stress reduction, increasingly applied in clinical practice, are also related to mindfulness techniques. We questioned their effects on neural emotion processing and investigated brain activity during purely internal mental self-referential processes of making current emotions and self-related cognitions aware. Thirty healthy subjects performed a task comprising periods of cognitive self-reflection, of introspection for actual own emotions and feelings, and of a neutral condition, while they were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Brain activations of twenty-seven subjects during emotion-introspection and self-reflection, and also a conjunction of both, were compared with the neutral condition. The conditions of self-reflection and emotion-introspection showed distinguishable activations in medial and ventrolateral prefrontal areas, in parietal regions and in the amygdala. Notably, amygdala activity decreased during emotion-introspection and increased compared to 'neutral' during self-reflection. The results indicate that already the self-referential mental state of making the actual emotional state aware is capable of attenuating emotional arousal. This extends current theories of emotion regulation and has implications for the application of mindfulness techniques as a component of psychotherapeutic strategies in affective disorders and also for possible everyday emotion regulation.
情绪调节是一个持续的内部过程，通常是一个挑战。目前相关的神经模型关注的是对外界事件反应的有意控制，由前额叶皮层区域介导，基底情绪处理如杏仁核。认知策略来调节情绪在情感障碍或减轻压力的背景下，越来越多地应用于临床实践，也与正念技术有关。我们质疑它们对神经情绪处理的影响，并研究了在纯粹的内部心理自我参照过程中进行当前情绪和自我相关认知的意识时的大脑活动。三十名健康受试者在进行认知自我反思、实际自身情绪和感觉的内省以及中性条件的任务时，同时进行功能磁共振成像扫描。在情绪内省和自我反思期间，对 27 名受试者的大脑活动进行了比较，以及两者的结合，与中性条件进行了比较。自我反思和情绪内省的条件在中侧和腹外侧前额叶区域、顶叶区域和杏仁核中显示出可区分的激活。值得注意的是，在情绪内省期间杏仁核活动减少，而在自我反思期间与“中性”相比增加。结果表明，仅仅使实际情绪状态意识到的自我参照心理状态就能够减弱情绪唤醒。这扩展了情绪调节的当前理论，并对将正念技术作为情感障碍心理治疗策略的一个组成部分的应用以及对可能的日常情绪调节具有影响。
