Emotion Downregulation Targets Interoceptive Brain Regions While Emotion Upregulation Targets Other Affective Brain Regions

• DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1865-21.2022
• Publication Date: 2022-02-22T18:50:13Z
• Authors: Jungwon Min; Kaoru Nashiro; Hyun Joo Yoo; Christine Cho; Padideh Nasseri; Shelby L. Bachman; Shai Porat; Julian F. Thayer; Catie Chang; Tae-Ho Lee; Mara Mather
• Keywords: Male; Brain Mapping; fMRI; Emotions; 150; 610; emotion; Brain; Down-Regulation; downregulation; interoception; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Up-Regulation; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; arousal; Humans; Female; upregulation

Researchers generally agree that when upregulating and downregulating emotion, control regions in the prefrontal cortex turn up or down activity affect-generating brain areas. However, “affective dial hypothesis” turning emotions produces opposite effects same is untested. We tested this hypothesis by examining overlap between activated during upregulation those deactivated downregulation 54 male 51 female humans. found both recruit regulatory regions, such as inferior frontal gyrus dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus, but act on distinct regions. Upregulation increased associated with emotional experience, amygdala, insula, striatum, well sympathetic vascular activity, periventricular white matter, while decreased receiving interoceptive input, posterior insula postcentral gyrus. Nevertheless, participants' subjective sense of intensity was overlapping (dorsal cingulate, thalamus, pole) across downregulation. These findings indicate rely to assess target different SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Many contexts require modulating one's own emotions. Identifying areas implementing these processes should advance understanding disorders designing potential interventions. The emotion regulation field has an implicit assumption we call affective hypothesis: modulate emotion-generating Countering hypothesis, our up- down-modulating Thus, mechanisms underlying might differ more than previously appreciated for versus In addition their theoretical importance, are critical researchers attempting particular intervention.