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. 2013 Dec;8(8):911-7.
doi: 10.1093/scan/nss089. Epub 2012 Aug 29.

On the embodiment of emotion regulation: interoceptive awareness facilitates reappraisal

Jürgen Füstös  1 , Klaus Gramann, Beate M Herbert, Olga Pollatos
Affiliations

On the embodiment of emotion regulation: interoceptive awareness facilitates reappraisal

Jürgen Füstös et al. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2013 Dec.

Abstract

The ability to cognitively regulate emotional responses to aversive events is essential for mental and physical health. One prerequisite of successful emotion regulation is the awareness of emotional states, which in turn is associated with the awareness of bodily signals [interoceptive awareness (IA)]. This study investigated the neural dynamics of reappraisal of emotional responses in 28 participants who differed with respect to IA. Electroencephalography was used to characterize the time course of emotion regulation. We found that reappraisal was accompanied by reduced arousal and significant modulation of late neural responses. What is more, higher IA facilitated downregulation of affect and was associated with more pronounced modulation of underlying neural activity. Therefore, we conclude that IA not only advances the consolidation of somatic markers required for guiding individual behaviour but also creates processing advantages in tasks referring to these bodily markers.

Keywords: embodied cognition; emotion regulation; evoked potentials; interoception; interoceptive awareness; reappraisal.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mean pleasantness (1: highly unpleasant, 9: highly pleasant) and arousal (1: very calm, 9: highly aroused) scores contrasting neutral, negative maintain (NM) and negative reappraise (NR) conditions.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Scatter plot depicting degree of downregulated arousal and interoceptive awareness.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
(a) VEPs at midline electrodes contrasting neutral, negative maintain (NM) and negative reappraise (NR) conditions. (b) Current source density maps of the difference potentials (NM-NR).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Scatter plot depicting modulation of P3 and interoceptive awareness.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Scatter plot depicting modulation of slow wave and interoceptive awareness.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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