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Updated: May 12, 2026
Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation
Published on: August 26, 2011
Mindfulness and emotion regulation--an fMRI study
Jacqueline Lutz1, Uwe Herwig2, Sarah Opialla1
1Department for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zürich, CH-8032 Zürich, Switzerland, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III, University of Ulm, D-89075 Ulm, Germany, Department of Neuropsychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Zürich, CH-8050 Zürich, Switzerland, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zürich, CH-8091 Zürich, Switzerland, and Department of Psychology, Psychotherapy of Affective Disorders, University of Zürich, CH-8050 Zürich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Mindfulness--an attentive non-judgmental focus on present experiences--is increasingly incorporated in psychotherapeutic treatments as a skill fostering emotion regulation. Neurobiological mechanisms of actively induced emotion regulation are associated with prefrontally mediated down-regulation of, for instance, the amygdala. We were interested in neurobiological correlates of a short mindfulness instruction during emotional arousal. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated effects of a short mindfulness intervention during the cued expectation and perception of negative and potentially negative pictures (50% probability) in 24 healthy individuals compared to 22 controls. The mindfulness intervention was associated with increased activations in prefrontal regions during the expectation of negative and potentially negative pictures compared to controls. During the perception of negative stimuli, reduced activation was identified in regions involved in emotion processing (amygdala, parahippocampal gyrus). Prefrontal and right insular activations when expecting negative pictures correlated negatively with trait mindfulness, suggesting that more mindful individuals required less regulatory resources to attenuate emotional arousal. Our findings suggest emotion regulatory effects of a short mindfulness intervention on a neurobiological level.
