Functional and effective connectivity in the neural cicuits supporting emotional self-regulation

一些证据表明，长期无法自我调节负面情绪，如悲伤和恐惧，可能在临床抑郁症和焦虑症的起源中起着关键作用。也有一些证据表明，冲动性攻击和暴力行为是由于对愤怒的控制有缺陷而产生的。到目前为止，还没有神经影像学研究检验正念对支持情绪自我调节的神经系统活动的影响。正念是一种精神状态，在这种状态下，对不断变化的感知对象（例如，感觉状态，身体状态等）的意识得到培养。鉴于科学数据表明正念练习在调节消极情绪状态方面的好处，我们建议在本申请中进行大量关于正念对潜在情绪自我调节的神经系统影响的功能磁共振成像研究。我们计划研究支持情绪有意识和自愿调节的神经回路的功能连通性、有效连通性和时空动态。这些实验结果将大大增加我们对情绪自我调节的神经回路和系统的功能和有效连接以及时空动态的认识和理解。此外，由于一些形式的精神病理是由于适应性自我调节情绪反应的失败而导致的，其结果从个人不适到社会失调和破坏性行为，所提出的实验结果可能会揭示这些疾病的神经机制。

Several lines of evidence indicate that a chronic inability to self-regulate negative emotions, such as sadness and fear, may play a pivotal role in the genesis of clinical depression and anxiety disorders. There is also some evidence that impulsive aggression and violence arise as a consequence of defective regulation of anger. To date no neuroimaging study has examined the impact of mindfulness - a mental state in which moment-to-moment awareness of changing objects of perception (e.g., feeling states, bodily states, etc.) is cultivated - on the activity of the neural systems supporting emotional self-regulation. Given the scientific data demonstrating the benefits of mindfulness practice with respect to the regulation of negative emotional states, we propose in this application to conduct a number of fMRI studies about the effects of mindfulness on the neural systems underlying emotional self-regulation. We plan to examine the functional connectivity, effective connectivity, and spatiotemporal dynamics of the neural circuits supporting conscious and voluntary regulation of emotion. The results of the proposed experiments will significantly increase our knowledge and understanding of the functional and effective connectivity as well as spatiotemporal dynamics of the neural circuits and systems underlying emotional self-regulation. In addition, since several forms of psychopathology result from failures to adaptively self-regulate emotional responses, with outcomes ranging from personal malaise to socially maladjusted and destructive behaviours, the results of the proposed experiments may shed light on the neural mechanisms of these disorders.