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.

Details

Title
On the embodiment of emotion regulation: interoceptive awareness facilitates reappraisal
Author
Füstös, Jürgen 1 ; Gramann, Klaus 2 ; Herbert, Beate M 1 ; Pollatos, Olga 1 

 Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany, 2 Institute of Psychology, Health Psychology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany, 3 Biological Psychology and Neuroergonomics, Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany and 4 Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Eberhard-Karls-University, Tuebingen, Germany; Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany, 2 Institute of Psychology, Health Psychology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany, 3 Biological Psychology and Neuroergonomics, Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany and 4 Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Eberhard-Karls-University, Tuebingen, Germany 
 Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany, 2 Institute of Psychology, Health Psychology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany, 3 Biological Psychology and Neuroergonomics, Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany and 4 Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Eberhard-Karls-University, Tuebingen, Germany 
Pages
911-917
Publication year
2013
Publication date
Dec 2013
Publisher
Oxford University Press
ISSN
17495016
e-ISSN
17495024
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3171562174
Copyright
© The Author(s) (2012). Published by Oxford University Press. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.