title: Neural circuits associated with positive and negative self-appraisal.
abstract: Self-worth is particularly influenced by self-appraisal, which is negatively biased in many psychiatric disorders. Positive and negative self-appraisals also shape current emotional states or even evoke defensive reactions, when they are incongruent with a subject's current state. Prior studies have mainly used externally given evaluative appraisals. In this study, 30 subjects used individual negative and positive self-appraisals during functional magnetic resonance imaging. We additionally investigated the effects of such self-appraisals onto the subsequent perception of photos of the individual subjects. Both self-appraisal conditions activated dorsomedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex compared to the neutral condition. Positive self-appraisal evoked stronger activity than negative self-appraisal in the amygdala, ventral striatum and anterior cingulate cortex, whereas negative self-appraisal was associated with increased activity in the occipital regions. Positive self-appraisal had no effect on the perception of a photo of oneself, whereas negative appraisal increased activity in the anterior insula and parietal regions. Overall, positive self-appraisal activated more emotion-related brain regions, whereas negative self-appraisal had a relatively stronger influence on perception-related brain activity. These findings could on the one hand explain the effect of negative self-appraisal on the behavior in the real world and on the other hand support a stronger focus of psychotherapy on enhancing positive self-appraisals.
authors: Department for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Lenggstrasse 31, CH 8032 Zürich, Switzerland. Electronic address: annette.bruehl@puk.zh.ch.
authors: A B
authors: AB
authors: Brühl
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zürich, Culmannstrasse 8, 8091 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Rufer
authors: Department for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Lenggstrasse 31, CH 8032 Zürich, Switzerland; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Rämistrasse 100, 8091 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Kaffenberger
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zürich, Culmannstrasse 8, 8091 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Baur
authors: Department for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Lenggstrasse 31, CH 8032 Zürich, Switzerland; Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III, University of Ulm, Leimgrubenweg 12, 89073 Ulm, Germany.
authors: U
authors: U
authors: Herwig
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012649:Self Concept; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: amygdala; emotion; fMRI; insula; self-reference; self-worth