Neural Networks for Mindfulness and Emotion Suppression

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology

Background:

• Mindfulness is an attentive, non-judgmental focus on present experiences, integrated into cognitive behavioral therapy.
• Emotion suppression involves avoiding or escaping emotions, potentially a maladaptive strategy.
• Both mindfulness and emotion suppression may decrease affective responses to emotional stimuli via distinct top-down modulation systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To elucidate the different neural systems underlying emotion regulation through mindfulness and emotion suppression.
• To investigate the distinct top-down modulation processes recruited by these two emotion regulation strategies.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine brain activity.
• Twenty-one healthy participants employed mindfulness and emotion suppression strategies in response to emotional visual stimuli.

Main Results:

• Both mindfulness and emotion suppression attenuated amygdala responses to emotional stimuli.
• Mindfulness regulated amygdala functioning via functional connectivity with the medial prefrontal cortex.
• Emotion suppression utilized connectivity with other prefrontal regions, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Conclusions:

• Mindfulness and emotion suppression recruit different top-down modulation processes localized in distinct prefrontal areas.
• These findings highlight the differential neural underpinnings of adaptive (mindfulness) and potentially maladaptive (suppression) emotion regulation strategies.