Investigating the neural systems that support the beneficial effects of positive emotion on stress regulation

研究支持积极情绪对压力调节有益影响的神经系统

• 批准号: 8877942
• 负责人: Kateri McRae
• 金额: $ 44.08万
• 依托单位: WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-05-01 至 2019-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8877942
• 关键词: Affect; Amygdaloid structure; Behavioral Paradigm; Brain; Cardiovascular Diseases; Cardiovascular system; Chronic; Cognitive; Cues; Emotions; Environment; Extinction (Psychology); Fright; Goals; Grant; Immune system; Individual; Intervention; Knowledge; Lateral; Link; Longevity; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Maps; Medial; Mediating; Mental Health; Modeling; Mood Disorders; Nucleic Acid Regulatory Sequences; Nucleus Accumbens; Outcome; Prefrontal Cortex; Process; Psychological Theory; Psychopathology; Recovery; Regulation; Research; Risk; Safety; Series; Shapes; Stress; Students; Support System; System; Testing; Training; Universities; Variant; base; cognitive control; cognitive reappraisal; emotion regulation; experience; frontal lobe; heart rate variability; improved; innovation; neural model; neuroimaging; neuromechanism; neuropsychological; novel; physical conditioning; positive emotional state; psychologic; public health relevance; relating to nervous system; stressor; traumatic event

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): When not regulated effectively, stress has profound deleterious effects on several mental and physical health outcomes, such as triggering mood disorders and suppressing the immune system. Experiencing positive emotions in the midst of stress is one of the most promising and robust stress regulators, protecting people from succumbing to psychopathology as a result of stress and promoting adaptive stress responding. Despite our burgeoning knowledge of how the brain processes the potentially deleterious effects of stress and its associated negative emotions, no attempt has yet been made to identify the neural systems that support the potentially beneficial effects of positive emotions on stress and emotion regulation. This project will integrate psychological theories and neural models of positive emotions, stress, and emotion regulation to answer the question: "Which neural systems support the beneficial effects of positive emotion on stress regulation?" This project proposes a novel neuropsychological model that outlines the neural mechanisms that support the effects of positive emotions on successful stress regulation. From this model, three candidate neural mechanisms emerge that also map onto established psychological constructs. This project features a series of studies that investigates the engagement of these three systems in novel variations on validated experimental paradigms as well as in established behavioral paradigms adapted for the MRI scanner. Specific Aim 1 is to identify a safety mechanism by testing the hypothesis that positive emotions will aid in fear extinction via activation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Specific Aim 2 is to demonstrate that positive emotions influence recovery from a single stressor through the adaptive meaning mechanism, and not through the simpler safety mechanism, by testing the hypothesis that positive emotions will shape stress appraisals by strengthening the functional connectivity between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the dorsomedial frontal cortex. Specific Aim 3 is to determine whether the established effects of positive emotion on cognitive reappraisal are due to the adaptive meaning making mechanism in the medial frontal cortex or to a cognitive facilitation mechanism in the lateral frontal cortex. Our studies will be conducted by undergraduate and master's students across two universities and will feature innovative MRI methodological/statistical approaches including temporal dynamics, functional connectivity, and mediational path analyses. The goals of this grant are to 1) significantly advance our knowledge of the different neural systems that support the effects of positive emotion on stress regulation, and 2) significantly strengthen the research environment at our universities by training students in advanced stress regulation and neuroimaging research.

 描述（由申请人提供）：当没有得到有效调节时，压力对几种精神和身体健康结果具有深远的有害影响，例如引发情绪障碍和抑制免疫系统。在压力中体验积极的情绪是最有前途和强大的压力调节器之一，保护人们免于因压力而屈服于精神病理学，并促进适应性压力反应。尽管我们对大脑如何处理压力及其相关负面情绪的潜在有害影响的知识不断涌现，但还没有尝试确定支持积极情绪对压力和情绪调节的潜在有益影响的神经系统。本项目将整合积极情绪、压力和情绪调节的心理学理论和神经模型，以回答以下问题：“哪些神经系统支持积极情绪对压力调节的有益影响？“这个项目提出了一个新的神经心理学模型，概述了支持积极情绪对成功压力调节的影响的神经机制。从这个模型中，出现了三个候选的神经机制，它们也映射到已建立的心理结构上。该项目包括一系列研究，调查这三个系统在经验证的实验范式的新变体以及适用于MRI扫描仪的既定行为范式中的参与。具体目标1是通过验证积极情绪将通过激活腹内侧前额叶皮层帮助消除恐惧的假设来确定安全机制。具体目标2是证明，积极情绪的影响恢复从一个单一的压力源通过自适应的意义机制，而不是通过更简单的安全机制，通过测试的假设，积极情绪会形压力评估，通过加强腹内侧前额叶皮层和背内侧额叶皮层之间的功能连接。具体目标3是确定积极情绪对认知重新评价的既定影响是由于内侧额叶皮层的适应性意义制造机制还是外侧额叶皮层的认知促进机制。我们的研究将由两所大学的本科生和硕士生进行，并将采用创新的MRI方法/统计方法，包括时间动态，功能连接和中介路径分析。该补助金的目标是1）显着提高我们对支持积极情绪对压力调节影响的不同神经系统的认识，2）通过培训学生进行高级压力调节和神经影像学研究，显着加强我们大学的研究环境。