title: Reappraising social emotions: the role of inferior frontal gyrus, temporo-parietal junction and insula in interpersonal emotion regulation.
abstract: Previous studies have reported the effect of emotion regulation (ER) strategies on both individual and social decision-making, however, the effect of regulation on socially driven emotions independent of decisions is still unclear. In the present study, we investigated the neural effects of using reappraisal to both up- and down-regulate socially driven emotions. Participants played the Dictator Game (DG) in the role of recipient while undergoing fMRI, and concurrently applied the strategies of either up-regulation (reappraising the proposer's intentions as more negative), down-regulation (reappraising the proposer's intentions as less negative), as well as a baseline "look" condition. Results showed that regions responding to the implementation of reappraisal (effect of strategy, that is, "regulating regions") were the inferior and middle frontal gyrus, temporo parietal junction and insula bilaterally. Importantly, the middle frontal gyrus activation correlated with the frequency of regulatory strategies in daily life, with the insula activation correlating with the perceived ability to reappraise the emotions elicited by the social situation. Regions regulated by reappraisal (effect of regulation, that is, "regulated regions") were the striatum, the posterior cingulate and the insula, showing increased activation for the up-regulation and reduced activation for down-regulation, both compared to the baseline condition. When analyzing the separate effects of partners' behavior, selfish behavior produced an activation of the insula, not observed when subjects were treated altruistically. Here we show for the first time that interpersonal ER strategies can strongly affect neural responses when experiencing socially driven emotions. Clinical implications of these findings are also discussed to understand how the way we interpret others' intentions may affect the way we emotionally react.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grecucci
authors.forename: Cinzia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giorgetta
authors.forename: Nicolao
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bonini
authors.forename: Alan G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Sanfey
keywords: decision-making; interpersonal emotion regulation; mentalizing; social interactions
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2000 Jan;12(1):48-55
references.pmid: 10769305
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2007 May;19(5):776-98
references.pmid: 17488204
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2013 Jan 30;33(5):2137-46
references.pmid: 23365249
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2005 May;9(5):242-9
references.pmid: 15866151
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2006 Apr 19;26(16):4415-25
references.pmid: 16624961
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2005 Jun;17(6):874-83
references.pmid: 15969906
references.citation: Cereb Cortex. 2013 Feb;23(2):399-410
references.pmid: 22368088
references.citation: J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 1994 Mar;25(1):49-59
references.pmid: 7962581
references.citation: Neuroimage. 1995 Sep;2(3):173-81
references.pmid: 9343600
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2007 Mar 28;27(13):3512-22
references.pmid: 17392467
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2009 Aug 15;47(2):713-21
references.pmid: 19442745
references.citation: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2012 Mar;1251:E1-24
references.pmid: 23025352
references.citation: Int J Psychoanal. 1946;27(Pt 3-4):99-110
references.pmid: 20261821
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2007 Jul 1;36(3):1041-55
references.pmid: 17493834
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 2010 May;48(6):1813-22
references.pmid: 20226799
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2004 Dec;16(10):1746-72
references.pmid: 15701226
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2000 Jul;4(7):267-278
references.pmid: 10859571
references.citation: Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2003 Sep;3(3):207-33
references.pmid: 14672157
references.citation: Biol Psychiatry. 2005 Feb 1;57(3):210-9
references.pmid: 15691521
references.citation: Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2008 Apr;17(2):153-158
references.pmid: 25425765
references.citation: Hum Brain Mapp. 2007 May;28(5):409-23
references.pmid: 17133391
references.citation: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2003 Mar 29;358(1431):459-73
references.pmid: 12689373
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 May 17;102(20):7398-401
references.pmid: 15878990
references.citation: Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2007 Dec;7(4):309-16
references.pmid: 18189004
references.citation: Science. 2003 Jun 13;300(5626):1755-8
references.pmid: 12805551
references.citation: Neuron. 2008 Sep 25;59(6):1037-50
references.pmid: 18817740
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2001 May;13(5):903-19
references.pmid: 11304086
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2011 Sep;23(9):2197-210
references.pmid: 20946058
references.citation: Biol Psychiatry. 2003 Sep 1;54(5):515-28
references.pmid: 12946880
references.citation: PLoS One. 2012;7(11):e48107
references.pmid: 23144849
references.citation: Front Psychol. 2013 Jan 21;3:616
references.pmid: 23349645
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2004 Oct;23(2):483-99
references.pmid: 15488398
references.citation: Psychophysiology. 2002 May;39(3):281-91
references.pmid: 12212647
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2009 Apr;21(4):734-44
references.pmid: 18578600
references.citation: Prog Brain Res. 2013;202:215-37
references.pmid: 23317835
references.citation: Hum Brain Mapp. 2009 Mar;30(3):829-58
references.pmid: 18381770
references.citation: Cogn Emot. 2013;27(2):230-44
references.pmid: 22775394
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2001 Sep 15;21(18):RC165
references.pmid: 11549754
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 2003 Aug;85(2):348-62
references.pmid: 12916575
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2008 Feb;20(2):324-41
references.pmid: 18275338
references.citation: Biol Psychiatry. 2008 Mar 15;63(6):577-86
references.pmid: 17888411
references.citation: Trends Neurosci. 1991 Oct;14(10):433-8
references.pmid: 1722361
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2006 May 15;31(1):397-409
references.pmid: 16414281
references.citation: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2001 May;2(5):352-63
references.pmid: 11331919