Capacity and tendency: A neuroscientific framework for the study of emotion regulation.

It is widely accepted that the ability to effectively regulate one's emotions is a cornerstone of physical and mental health. As such, it should come as no surprise that the number of neuroimaging studies focused on emotion regulation and associated processes has increased exponentially in the past decade. To date, neuroimaging research on this topic has examined two distinct but complementary features of emotion regulation - the capacity to effectively utilize a strategy to regulate emotion and to a lesser extent, the tendency to choose to regulate. However, theoretical accounts of emotion regulation have only recently begun to distinguish capacity from tendency. In the present review, we provide a novel framework for conceptualizing these two intertwined, yet distinct, facets of emotion regulation. First we characterize brain regions that support emotion generation and are thus targeted by emotion regulation. Next, we synthesize findings from the dozens of neuroimaging studies that have examined emotion regulation capacity, focusing in particular on the most commonly studied emotion regulation strategy - reappraisal. Finally, we discuss emerging neuroimaging research examining state and trait regulatory tendencies. We conclude by integrating findings from neuroimaging research on emotion regulation capacity and tendency and suggest ways that this integrated model can inform basic and translational neuroscientific research on emotion regulation

Motivation: key to a healthy lifestyle in people with diabetes? Current and emerging knowledge and applications

Aim Motivation to take up and maintain a healthy lifestyle is key to diabetes prevention and management. Motivations are driven by factors on the psychological, biological and environmental levels, which have each been studied extensively in various lines of research over the past 25 years. Here, we analyse and reflect on current and emerging knowledge on motivation in relation to lifestyle behaviours, with a focus on people with diabetes or obesity. Structured according to psychological, (neuro‐)biological and broader environmental levels, we provide a scoping review of the literature and highlight frameworks used to structure motivational concepts. Results are then put in perspective of applicability in (clinical) practice. Results Over the past 25 years, research focusing on motivation has grown exponentially. Social–cognitive and self‐determination theories have driven research on the key motivational concepts ‘self‐efficacy’ and ‘self‐determination’. Neuro‐cognitive research has provided insights in the processes that are involved across various layers of a complex cortical network of motivation, reward and cognitive control. On an environmental – more upstream – level, motivations are influenced by characteristics in the built, social, economic and policy environments at various scales, which have provided entry points for environmental approaches influencing behaviour. Conclusions Current evidence shows that motivation is strongly related to a person's self‐efficacy and capability to initiate and maintain healthy choices, and to a health climate that supports autonomous choices. Some approaches targeting motivations have been shown to be promising, but more research is warranted to sustainably reduce the burden of diabetes in individuals and populations

Facilitating Emotional Regulation: The Interactive Effect of Resource Availability and Reward Processing

Despite a wealth of knowledge on the importance of resource availability and reward processing for emotional regulation, surprisingly little is known about the extent to which these two mechanisms interact. Indeed, while research largely supports a positive association between reward processing and recovering from a negative emotional experience, the research does not make a clear prediction regarding the effect of resource availability on this relationship. In two experiments, we explored the extent to which resource availability impacts the efficacy of reward processing to reduce the aversive emotional experience of anxiety. We manipulated participants\u27 mental resource availability, induced anxiety, and varied exposure to either a rewarding or non-rewarding stimulus. The findings consistently demonstrate an interaction between resource availability and reward processing; specifically, the combination of high resource availability and reward processing facilitated the greatest levels of anxiety reduction. Moreover, this interaction was shown to amplify with the intensity of participants\u27 exposure to the reward stimulus. We discuss the practical contributions of these findings and their generative nature for further clarifying the processes underlying emotional regulation

Regulating craving by anticipating positive and negative outcomes : a multivariate pattern analysis and network connectivity approach

During self-control, we may resist short-term temptations in order to reach a favorable future (e.g., resisting cake to stay healthy). The neural basis of self-control is typically attributed to “cold,” unemotional cognitive control mechanisms which inhibit affect-related regions via the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Here, we investigate the neural underpinnings of regulating cravings by mentally evoking the positive consequences of resisting a temptation (e.g., being healthy) as opposed to evoking the negative consequences of giving in to a temptation (e.g., becoming overweight). It is conceivable that when using these types of strategies, regions associated with emotional processing [e.g., striatum, ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)] are involved in addition to control-related prefrontal and parietal regions. Thirty-one participants saw pictures of unhealthy snacks in the fMRI scanner and, depending on the trial, regulated their craving by thinking of the positive consequences of resisting, or the negative consequences of not resisting. In a control condition, they anticipated the pleasure of eating and thus, allowed the craving to occur (now-condition). In line with previous studies, we found activation of a cognitive control network during self-regulation. In the negative future thinking condition, the insula was more active than in the positive condition, while there were no activations that were stronger in the positive (> negative) future thinking condition. However, additionally, multivariate pattern analysis showed that during craving regulation, information about the valence of anticipated emotions was present in the vmPFC, the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the insula. Moreover, a network including vmPFC and PCC showed higher connectivity during the positive (> negative) future thinking condition. Since these regions are often associated with affective processing, these findings suggest that “hot,” affective processes may, at least in certain circumstances, play a role in self-control

Neurofeedback of visual food cue reactivity: a potential avenue to alter incentive sensitization and craving.

Published onlineJOURNAL ARTICLEFMRI-based neurofeedback transforms functional brain activation in real-time into sensory stimuli that participants can use to self-regulate brain responses, which can aid the modification of mental states and behavior. Emerging evidence supports the clinical utility of neurofeedback-guided up-regulation of hypoactive networks. In contrast, down-regulation of hyperactive neural circuits appears more difficult to achieve. There are conditions though, in which down-regulation would be clinically useful, including dysfunctional motivational states elicited by salient reward cues, such as food or drug craving. In this proof-of-concept study, 10 healthy females (mean age = 21.40 years, mean BMI = 23.53) who had fasted for 4 h underwent a novel 'motivational neurofeedback' training in which they learned to down-regulate brain activation during exposure to appetitive food pictures. FMRI feedback was given from individually determined target areas and through decreases/increases in food picture size, thus providing salient motivational consequences in terms of cue approach/avoidance. Our preliminary findings suggest that motivational neurofeedback is associated with functionally specific activation decreases in diverse cortical/subcortical regions, including key motivational areas. There was also preliminary evidence for a reduction of hunger after neurofeedback and an association between down-regulation success and the degree of hunger reduction. Decreasing neural cue responses by motivational neurofeedback may provide a useful extension of existing behavioral methods that aim to modulate cue reactivity. Our pilot findings indicate that reduction of neural cue reactivity is not achieved by top-down regulation but arises in a bottom-up manner, possibly through implicit operant shaping of target area activity.This study was supported by the BRAINTRAIN grant, funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no. 602186 and a seed corn grant of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University

Motivation: key to a healthy lifestyle in people with diabetes? Current and emerging knowledge and applications

Aim Motivation to take up and maintain a healthy lifestyle is key to diabetes prevention and management. Motivations are driven by factors on the psychological, biological and environmental levels, which have each been studied extensively in various lines of research over the past 25 years. Here, we analyse and reflect on current and emerging knowledge on motivation in relation to lifestyle behaviours, with a focus on people with diabetes or obesity. Structured according to psychological, (neuro‐)biological and broader environmental levels, we provide a scoping review of the literature and highlight frameworks used to structure motivational concepts. Results are then put in perspective of applicability in (clinical) practice. Results Over the past 25 years, research focusing on motivation has grown exponentially. Social–cognitive and self‐determination theories have driven research on the key motivational concepts ‘self‐efficacy’ and ‘self‐determination’. Neuro‐cognitive research has provided insights in the processes that are involved across various layers of a complex cortical network of motivation, reward and cognitive control. On an environmental – more upstream – level, motivations are influenced by characteristics in the built, social, economic and policy environments at various scales, which have provided entry points for environmental approaches influencing behaviour. Conclusions Current evidence shows that motivation is strongly related to a person's self‐efficacy and capability to initiate and maintain healthy choices, and to a health climate that supports autonomous choices. Some approaches targeting motivations have been shown to be promising, but more research is warranted to sustainably reduce the burden of diabetes in individuals and populations

Obesity, body weight regulation and the brain: Insights from fMRI

Obesity constitutes a major global health threat. Despite the success of bariatric surgery in delivering sustainable weight loss and improvement in obesity-related morbidity, effective non-surgical treatments are urgently needed, necessitating an increased understanding of body weight regulation. Neuroimaging studies undertaken in people with healthy weight, overweight, obesity and following bariatric surgery have contributed to identifying the neurophysiological changes seen in obesity and are increasing our understanding of the mechanisms driving the favourable eating behaviour changes and sustained weight loss engendered by bariatric surgery. These studies have revealed a key interplay between peripheral metabolic signals, homeostatic and hedonic brain regions and genetics. Findings from brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have consistently associated obesity with an increased motivational drive to eat, increased reward responses to food cues and impaired food-related self-control processes. Interestingly, new data link these obesity-associated changes with structural and connectivity changes within the central nervous system. Moreover, emerging data suggest that bariatric surgery leads to neuroplastic recovery. A greater understanding of the interactions between peripheral signals of energy balance, the neural substrates that regulate eating behaviour, the environment and genetics will be key for the development of novel therapeutic strategies for obesity. This review provides an overview of our current understanding of the pathoaetiology of obesity with a focus upon the role that fMRI studies have played in enhancing our understanding of central regulation of eating behaviour and energy homeostasis

A core eating network and its modulations underlie diverse eating phenomena

We propose that a core eating network and its modulations account for much of what is currently known about the neural activity underlying a wide range of eating phenomena in humans (excluding homeostasis and related phenomena). The core eating network is closely adapted from a network that Kaye, Fudge, and Paulus (2009) proposed to explain the neurocircuitry of eating, including a ventral reward pathway and a dorsal control pathway. In a review across multiple literatures that focuses on experiments using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), we first show that neural responses to food cues, such as food pictures, utilize the same core eating network as eating. Consistent with the theoretical perspective of grounded cognition, food cues activate eating simulations that produce reward predictions about a perceived food and potentially motivate its consumption. Reviewing additional literatures, we then illustrate how various factors modulate the core eating network, increasing and/or decreasing activity in subsets of its neural areas. These modulating factors include food significance (palatability, hunger), body mass index (BMI, overweight/obesity), eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating), and various eating goals (losing weight, hedonic pleasure, healthy living). By viewing all these phenomena as modulating a core eating network, it becomes possible to understand how they are related to one another within this common theoretical framework. Finally, we discuss future directions for better establishing the core eating network, its modulations, and their implications for behavior