The Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation by Implementation Intentions

Abstract

Several studies have investigated the neural basis of effortful emotion regulation (ER) but the neural basis of automatic ER has been less comprehensively explored. The present study investigated the neural basis of automatic ER supported by ‘implementation intentions’. 40 healthy participants underwent fMRI while viewing emotion-eliciting images and used either a previously-taught effortful ER strategy, in the form of a goal intention (e.g., try to take a detached perspective), or a more automatic ER strategy, in the form of an implementation intention (e.g., “If I see something disgusting, then I will think these are just pixels on the screen!”), to regulate their emotional response. Whereas goal intention ER strategies were associated with activation of brain areas previously reported to be involved in effortful ER (including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex), ER strategies based on an implementation intention strategy were associated with activation of right inferior frontal gyrus and ventro-parietal cortex, which may reflect the attentional control processes automatically captured by the cue for action contained within the implementation intention. Goal intentions were also associated with less effective modulation of left amygdala, supporting the increased efficacy of ER under implementation intention instructions, which showed coupling of orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala. The findings support previous behavioural studies in suggesting that forming an implementation intention enables people to enact goal-directed responses with less effort and more efficiency.

The Intention–Behavior Gap

“…Indeed, evidence indicates that forming if‐then plans endows responses with features of automaticity (see Gollwitzer & Sheeran, , for a review). Whereas action control by intentions operates in a ‘top‐down’, deliberative manner, neurophysiological studies indicate that if‐then plans operate in ‘bottom‐up’, cue‐driven fashion (Gilbert et al, ; Hallam et al, ), akin to the operation of habits (Gollwitzer, ; Wood & Neal, ).…”

Autobiographical memory dysfunctions in depressive disorders

“…The limbic system, including mainly the hippocampus and the amygdala nucleus, modifies our emotional reactions depending on the incoming environmental stimuli (unconscious reaction). On the other hand, the prefrontal cortex is responsible for control over emotions and feelings (realized emotions) (Table ) …”

Functional magnetic resonance imaging activation in response to prompts of romantically disillusioning events

“…Consistent with Griskevicius et al (), who proposed vigilance to relationship threats (e.g., infidelity) as an important part of their evolutionary account, we found that disillusionment events produce greater activation than did dissatisfying or regret‐inducing events in brain areas linked to self‐relevance and discrepancy monitoring. We did not find amygdala activity (presumed central to fear and avoidance; LeDoux, ) to differentiate between responses to disillusioning, dissatisfying, and regret‐inducing events, but other brain structures may have been performing a similar role (Hallam et al, ). In demonstrating the distinguishability in the brain of disillusionment from dissatisfaction and regret, our findings support unique theoretical characterizations of relationship disillusionment.…”

“…One reason could be that amygdala activation was masked by the increased activity of frontal, precuneus, and precentral regions. Hallam et al () demonstrated the role of the precuneus, frontal, and precentral gyrus in emotion regulation and amygdala activity. Our observations of these other regions suggest that participants in our study were also invested in lowering their emotional intensity when recounting disillusioning events compared to experiences when recounting dissatisfaction events.…”