In Search of the Emotional Self: An fMRI Study Using Positive and Negative Emotional Words

Fossati, Philippe; Hevenor, Stephanie J.; Graham, Simon J.; Grady, Cheryl L.; Keightley, Michelle; Craik, Fergus I. M.; Mayberg, Helen S.

doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.160.11.1938

Cited by 554 publications

(382 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The cognitive component of the task (that is 'like me/not like me') engaged the MPFC irrespective of the valence of the trait word, whereas the affective component of the task (that is 'favourable/unfavourable') was resolved in ventral anterior cingulate cortex. 10 Taken together, 7,8,10 the above findings implicate medial frontal, cingulate, parietal cortex and precuneus in tasks that require self-referential processing of personality-trait words.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…In a whole brain analysis, significant activations were identified using cluster-based thresholding of statistical images with a height threshold of Z > 2.3 and a (corrected) spatial extent threshold of P < 0.05. 33 Given the findings from earlier neuroimaging studies implicating the right MPFC and vACC, 7,8,10 regions of interest (right MPFC, 8 mm sphere; and vACC, 12 mm sphere) were generated based on the coordinates described by Moran et al 10 Approximate Brodmann's Areas (BA) were identified by transformation of MNI coordinates into Talairach space. 34 (Additional information available at http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/ Imaging.)…”

Section: Visual Stimulation Paradigmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) [7][8][9][10] and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) 11 studies have identified medial prefrontal (MPFC), parietal and occipital cortex as part of an extended network of brain regions involved in the categorization and recognition of positive and negative personality-trait words processed in a selfreferential manner. For example, increased blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) activity in parietal and occipital regions has been hypothesized to reflect enhanced attentional processes to biologically significant or personally relevant events.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…12 In addition, previous work has noted the involvement of the MPFC, premotor, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and precuneus during tasks that require self reference. 7,8,10,13 Activation in these regions during selfreferential processing may reflect a number of cognitive processes including attention, elaboration, rehearsal and appraisal/evaluation of emotion 14 processes that are targeted in psychotherapy to guide self regulation of emotional experience. 7 Successful recognition of self-encoded personality-trait words has also been shown to reactivate right MPFC, as well as lateral prefrontal, premotor, parietal, anterior cingulate cortex and precuneus.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effects of reboxetine on emotional processing in healthy volunteers: an fMRI study

et al. 2007

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Recent neuropsychological studies in healthy volunteers suggest that antidepressants enhance the processing of positive emotional information. However, the neural substrates underpinning these changes have not been fully elucidated. The current study, therefore, used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to map brain systems activated during successful categorization and subsequent recognition of self-referent positive and negative personality characteristics in healthy volunteers following short-term (7 days) repeated administration of the selective noradrenergic reuptake inhibitor reboxetine. Twenty-four healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to 7-day double-blind intervention with reboxetine or placebo. On day 7, neural responses during the categorization and subsequent recognition of positive and negative characteristics were assessed using fMRI. Questionnaires monitoring mood, hostility and anxiety were given before and during this intervention. During categorization, reboxetine was associated with greater activation to positive words, relative to negative words, in left precuneus and right inferior frontal gyrus. By contrast, at subsequent recognition reboxetine was associated with reduced response to positive words, relative to negative words, in left precuneus, anterior cingulate and medial frontal gyrus. These changes in the neural processing of positive and negative words occurred in the absence of significant differences in ratings of mood and anxiety. Such adaptations in the neural processing of emotional information support the hypothesis that antidepressants have early effects on emotional processing in a manner which would be expected to reverse negative biases in depression.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Visual Stimulation Paradigmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The effects of reboxetine on emotional processing in healthy volunteers: an fMRI study

et al. 2007

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“…Converging evidence within the functional neuroimaging literature indicates that cortical midline structures (CMS) play an essential role in such self‐referential processing (Northoff & Panksepp, 2008; Northoff et al., 2006; Panksepp & Northoff, 2009). Several functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies found that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and, specifically, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) are involved in self‐referential processing, particularly if the content is emotional (Araujo, Kaplan, Damasio, & Damasio, 2015; D'Argembeau et al., 2011; Fossati et al., 2003; Kim & Johnson, 2015; van der Meer, Costafreda, Aleman, & David, 2010). Interestingly, previous fMRI studies indicate that the mPFC is also involved in emotion regulation and extinction learning (Garvert, Moutoussis, Kurth‐Nelson, Behrens, & Dolan, 2015; Ochsner, Silvers, & Buhle, 2012; Peters, Kalivas, & Quirk, 2009), two processes that are found to be dysfunctional in psychopathological states with disrupted self‐referential processing like depression or anxiety disorders (Hofmann et al., 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Change in emotional self‐concept following socio‐cognitive training relates to structural plasticity of the prefrontal cortex

et al. 2018

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IntroductionSelf‐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.MethodsTo 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 ReSource Project.ResultsBased 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.ConclusionsOur 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.

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Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Error Processing Dysfunctions in Major Depressive Disorder

Holmes

Pizzagalli

2008

Arch Gen Psychiatry

251

231

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Unmedicated patients with MDD showed reduced accuracy and potentiated error-related negativity immediately after committing errors, highlighting dysfunctions in the automatic detection of unfavorable performance outcomes. New analytic procedures allowed us to show that abnormal reaction to committing errors was accompanied by hyperactivation in rostral ACC and medial PFC regions 80 milliseconds after committing errors and a failure to recruit dorsolateral PFC-based cognitive control. Future studies are warranted to investigate whether these dysfunctions might foster the emergence and maintenance of negative processing biases and thus increase vulnerability to depression.

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In Search of the Emotional Self: An fMRI Study Using Positive and Negative Emotional Words

Cited by 554 publications

References 32 publications

The effects of reboxetine on emotional processing in healthy volunteers: an fMRI study

The effects of reboxetine on emotional processing in healthy volunteers: an fMRI study

Change in emotional self‐concept following socio‐cognitive training relates to structural plasticity of the prefrontal cortex

Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Error Processing Dysfunctions in Major Depressive Disorder

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