Abstract
Background
Emotion regulation has been linked to specific brain networks based on functional
neuroimaging, but networks causally involved in emotion regulation remain unknown.
Methods
We studied patients with focal brain damage (n=167) who completed the “managing emotion” subscale of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional
Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), a measure of emotion regulation. First, we tested whether
patients with lesions to an a priori network derived from functional neuroimaging showed impaired emotion regulation.
Next, we leveraged lesion network mapping to derive a de novo brain network for emotion regulation. Finally, we used an independent lesion database
(n=629) to test whether damage to this lesion-derived network would increase the risk
of neuropsychiatric conditions associated with emotion regulation impairment.
Results
First, patients with lesions intersecting the a priori emotion regulation network derived from functional neuroimaging showed impairments
in the managing emotion subscale of the MSCEIT. Next, our de novo brain network for emotion regulation derived from lesion data was defined by functional
connectivity (FC) to the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC). Finally, lesions
from the independent database associated with mania, criminality, and depression intersected
this de novo brain network more than lesions associated with other disorders.
Conclusions
The findings suggest that emotion regulation maps to a connected brain network centered
on the left vlPFC. Lesion damage to part of this network is associated with reported
difficulties in managing emotions and is related to increased likelihood of having
one of several neuropsychiatric disorders.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
February 7,
2023
Received in revised form:
February 6,
2023
Received:
July 18,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Journal Pre-ProofFootnotes
6Department of Neurology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Author contributions
J.J., A.L.C., and M.D.F conceptualized and developed methods, J.J. A.L.C., and M.A.F performed data analyses. J.J wrote manuscript drafts. J.G. provided a patient data set with behavioral and demographic data. All authors revised manuscript.
Competing Interests
MDF is a consultant for Magnus Medical and Solaris and holds intellectual property on using connectivity imaging to guide brain stimulation treatments. All other authors report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.
Data Availability
Questions about the Vietnam Head Injury Study data analyzed in this study are available from Dr. Grafman while the corresponding author can provide other data upon reasonable request.
Code Availability
The code used in this study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Identification
Copyright
© 2023 Published by Elsevier Inc on behalf of Society of Biological Psychiatry.
