Built to last: Theta and delta changes in resting‐state EEG activity after regulating emotions

Brain and Behavior

Stefania Valer¹  Remo Job¹  Gaia Lapomarda¹  Alessandro Grecucci¹ 

[1] Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences University of Trento, Trento, Italy;

关键词: delta frequency;    distancing;    emotion regulation;    resting‐state EEG;    theta frequency;   

DOI  :  10.1002/brb3.2597

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Background : Over the past years, electroencephalography (EEG) studies focused on task‐related activity to characterize cortical responses associated with emotion regulation (ER), without exploring the possibility that regulating emotions can leave a trace in the brain by affecting its oscillatory activity. Demonstrating whether the effect of regulation alters the brain activity after the session and whether this reflects an increased cognitive regulatory ability has great relevance. Methods : To address this issue, 5 min of electrical brain activity at rest were recorded before and after (1) one session in which participants perceived and regulated (through distancing) their emotions (regulation session, ReS), and (2) another session in which they only perceived emotions (attend session, AtS). One hundred and sixty visual stimuli were presented, and subjective ratings of valence and arousal of stimuli were recorded. Results : Behavioral results showed the efficacy of the regulation strategy in modulating both arousal and valence. A cluster‐based permutation test on EEG data at rest revealed a significant increase in theta and delta activity after the ReS compared to the AtS, suggesting that regulating emotions can alter brain activity after the session. Conclusions : These results allowed us to outline a comprehensive view of the neurophysiological mechanisms associated with ER, as well as some possible implications in psychotherapy.

【 授权许可】

Unknown