Relationship between emotional experience and resilience: an fMRI study in fire-fighters

Resilience refers to the capacity to cope effectively in stressful situations or adversity. It may involve the ability to experience emotions matching the demands of environmental circumstances. The brain mechanisms underlying resilience remain unclear. In this study, we aim to investigate the relationship between the neural basis of emotional experience and resilience. Thirty-six fire-fighters were included. They performed an fMRI script-driven paradigm comprising relaxing and trauma-related scripts to evaluate the cerebral substrate of emotional experience (p<0.05, FDR-corrected). Correlations were examined between fMRI activations and the resilience DRS15 scale (p<0.05). Resilience was positively correlated with the right amygdala and left orbitofrontal activations when performing the contrast of trauma vs. relaxing script. The present study provides neural data on the mechanisms underlying resilience and their relationship with emotional reactivity, suggesting that appropriate emotional response in stressful situations is essential for coping with aversive events in daily life.