Department of Social Neuroscience Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences Leipzig Germany.
Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy University of Witten/Herdecke Witten Germany.
Brain Behav. 2018 Mar 13;8(4):e00940. doi: 10.1002/brb3.940. eCollection 2018 Apr.
Self-referential processing is a key component of the emotional self-concept. Previous studies have shown that emotional self-referential processing is related to structure and function of cortical midline areas such as medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and that it can be altered on a behavioral level by specific mental training practices. However, it remains unknown how behavioral training-related change in emotional self-concept content relates to structural plasticity.
To address this issue, we examined the relationship between training-induced change in participant's emotional self-concept measured through emotional word use in the Twenty Statement Test and change in cortical thickness in the context of a large-scale longitudinal mental training study called the .
Based on prior behavioral findings showing increased emotional word use particularly after socio-cognitive training targeting perspective-taking capacities, this study extended these results by revealing that individual differences in the degree to which participants changed their emotional self-concept after training was positively related to cortical thickness change in right mPFC extending to dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC). Furthermore, increased self-related negative emotional word use after training was positively associated with cortical thickness change in left pars orbitalis and bilateral dlPFC.
Our findings reveal training-related structural brain change in regions known to be involved in self-referential processing and cognitive control, and could indicate a relationship between restructuring of the emotional self-concept content as well as reappraisal of negative aspects and cortical thickness change. As such, our findings can guide the development of psychological interventions targeted to alter specific facets of the self-concept.
自我参照加工是情感自我概念的一个关键组成部分。先前的研究表明，情绪自我参照加工与皮质中线区域（如内侧前额叶皮层，mPFC）的结构和功能有关，并且可以通过特定的心理训练实践在行为水平上改变。然而，情绪自我概念内容的行为训练相关变化与结构可塑性之间的关系尚不清楚。
为了解决这个问题，我们研究了参与者的情绪自我概念的变化与皮质厚度变化之间的关系，该变化是通过一项名为的大规模纵向心理训练研究中的二十项测试中情绪词汇的使用来衡量的。
基于先前的行为研究结果表明，在针对换位思考能力的社会认知训练后，情绪词汇的使用增加了，本研究通过揭示参与者在训练后改变情绪自我概念的程度的个体差异与右侧 mPFC 向背外侧前额叶皮层（dlPFC）延伸的皮质厚度变化呈正相关，扩展了这些结果。此外，训练后自我相关的负性情绪词汇的使用增加与左侧眶额回和双侧 dlPFC 的皮质厚度变化呈正相关。
我们的发现揭示了与自我参照加工和认知控制相关的区域的与训练相关的结构脑变化，并且可以表明情绪自我概念内容的重构以及对负面方面的重新评估与皮质厚度变化之间的关系。因此，我们的发现可以指导针对改变自我概念的特定方面的心理干预措施的发展。
