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Different brain areas are activated when we choose
for ourselves to suppress an emotion, compared to
situations where we are instructed to inhibit an
emotion, according a new study from the UCL
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Ghent
University.
Gray's Anatomy - Brain
TIn
this study, published in Brain Structure and
Function, the researchers scanned the brains of
healthy participants and found that key brain
systems were activated when choosing for oneself to
suppress an emotion. They had previously linked this
brain area to deciding to inhibit movement.
“This
result shows that emotional self-control involves a
quite different brain system from simply being told
how to respond emotionally,” said lead author Dr
Simone Kuhn (Ghent University).
In
most previous studies, participants were instructed
to feel or inhibit an emotional response. However,
in everyday life we are rarely told to suppress our
emotions, and usually have to decide ourselves
whether to feel or control our emotions.
In
this new study the researchers showed fifteen
healthy women unpleasant or frightening pictures.
The participants were given a choice to feel the
emotion elicited by the image, or alternatively to
inhibit the emotion, by distancing themselves
through an act of self-control.
The
researchers used functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI) to scan the brains of the
participants. They compared this brain activity to
another experiment where the participants were
instructed to feel or inhibit their emotions, rather
than choose for themselves.
Different parts of the brain were activated in the
two situations. When participants decided for
themselves to inhibit negative emotions, the
scientists found activation in the dorso-medial
prefrontal area of the brain.
In
contrast, when participants were instructed by the
experimenter to inhibit the emotion, a second, more
lateral area was activated.
“We think controlling one’s emotions and controlling
one’s behaviour involve overlapping mechanisms,”
said Dr Kuhn.
“We
should distinguish between voluntary and instructed
control of emotions, in the same way as we can
distinguish between making up our own mind about
what do, versus following instructions.”
Regulating emotions is part of our daily life, and
is important for our mental health. For example,
many people have to conquer fear of speaking in
public, while some professionals such as health-care
workers and firemen have to maintain an emotional
distance from unpleasant or distressing scenes that
occur in their jobs.
Professor Patrick Haggard (UCL Institute of
Cognitive Neuroscience) co-author of the paper said
the brain mechanism identified in this study could
be a potential target for therapies.
“This
kind of self-control mechanism may have positive
aspects, for example making people less vulnerable
to excessive emotion. But altered function of this
brain area could also potentially lead to
difficulties in responding appropriately to
emotional situations.”
For
more information
University College London
Brain Structure and Function
MDN
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