The Neuroanatomical Basis of Two Subcomponents of Rumination: A VBM Study

Abstract

Rumination is a trait that includes two subcomponents, namely brooding and reflective pondering, respectively construed as maladaptive and adaptive response styles to negative experiences. Existing evidence indicates that rumination in general is associated with structural and functional differences in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). However, conclusive evidence on the specific neural structural basis of each of the two subcomponents is lacking. In this voxel-based morphometry study, we investigated the independent and specific neural structural basis of brooding and reflective pondering in 30 healthy young adults, who belonged to high or low brooding or reflective pondering groups. Consistent with past research, modest but significant positive correlation was found between brooding and reflective pondering. When controlling for reflective pondering, high-brooding group showed increased gray matter volumes in the left DLPFC and ACC. Further analysis on extracted gray matter values showed that gray matter of the same DLPFC and ACC regions also showed significant negative effects of reflective pondering. Taken together, our findings indicate that the two subcomponents of rumination might share some common processes yet also have distinct neural basis. In view of the significant roles of the left DLPFC and ACC in attention and self-related emotional processing/regulation, our findings provide insight into how the potentially shared and distinct cognitive, affective and neural processes of brooding and reflective pondering can be extended to clinical populations to further elucidate the neurobehavioral relationships between rumination and prefrontal abnormality.

Puberty and Transdiagnostic Risks for Mental Health

“…Third, some of the most intriguing recent transdiagnostic work has established the neural underpinnings of these processes. Functional differences in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which plays a significant role in executive functions like working memory, planning, and inhibition, are indicated across rumination, negative urgency, and rejection sensitivity in adult samples (Sin, Shao, Geng, Cho, & Lee, 2018;Chester et al, 2016;Sun et al, 2018). Whether these associations hold across different developmental stages remains unclear.…”

Psychometric Properties and Contribution to Mental Health of the Bulgarian version of the 4-Factor Ruminative Thought Style Questionnaire

“…2 Brooding or reflecting on negative emotions (i.e., rumination) is a feature of various psychiatric syndromes in anxiety and depression spectrum disorders. [3][4][5] This is substantiated by neurobiological evidence linking rumination to structural and functional alterations in brain areas (e.g., the anterior cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex, amygdala), involved in attention and emotional regulation 6,7 , and individuals with mental disorders often have deficits in these mechanisms 8 .…”

The neuroanatomical correlates of repetitive negative thinking: A systematic review

“…However, cognitive control functions mediated by the DLPFC may also pertain to emotion, specifically the regulation of negative emotion through reappraisal and suppression strategies (Koenigs & Grafman, 2009). Associations between RNT severity and larger bilateral DLPFC volumes in non-clinical populations suggest that it may be a reliable structural correlate of RNT in the absence of pathological levels (Sin et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2015). However, in a clinical population RNT severity was associated with smaller DLPFC volume (Wang et al, 2015).…”

“…Associations between RNT severity and grey matter volume were most frequently reported in prefrontal brain regions. Larger bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) volume was associated with RNT severity in three independent non-clinical populations (Sin et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2015). However, in a clinical population, RNT severity was associated with smaller bilateral DLPFC volume (Wang et al, 2015).…”

“…In two non-clinical populations opposing associations were observed; Kühn and colleagues (2012) reported smaller bilateral mid cingulate cortex and left ACC volumes, while Sin and colleagues (2018) reported larger bilateral ACC volume. In the latter study, analyses were also conducted following participant assignment to either a low or high RNT group (Sin et al, 2018). The high RNT group (with RNT levels akin to clinical populations) had larger bilateral ACC volumes compared to the low RNT group.…”