RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Anxiety-related frontocortical activity is associated with dampened stressor reactivity in the real world
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.03.17.435791
DO 10.1101/2021.03.17.435791
A1 Juyoen Hur
A1 Manuel Kuhn
A1 Shannon E. Grogans
A1 Allegra S. Anderson
A1 Samiha Islam
A1 Hyung Cho Kim
A1 Rachael M. Tillman
A1 Andrew S. Fox
A1 Jason F. Smith
A1 Kathryn A. DeYoung
A1 Alexander J. Shackman
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/08/23/2021.03.17.435791.abstract
AB Negative affect is a fundamental dimension of human emotion. When extreme, it contributes to a variety of adverse outcomes—from physical and mental illness to divorce and premature death. Mechanistic work in animals and neuroimaging research in humans and monkeys has begun to reveal the broad contours of the neural circuits governing negative affect, but the relevance of these discoveries to everyday distress remains incompletely understood. Here we used a combination of approaches— including neuroimaging assays of threat anticipation and emotional face perception and >10,000 momentary assessments of emotional experience—to demonstrate that individuals showing greater activation in a cingulo-opercular circuit during an anxiety-eliciting laboratory paradigm experience lower levels of stressor-dependent distress in their daily lives (n=202-208). Extended amygdala activation was not significantly related to momentary negative affect. These observations provide a framework for understanding the neurobiology of negative affect in the laboratory and in the real world.STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE Anxiety, sadness, and other negative emotions are hallmarks of the human condition. When extreme, they contribute to a variety of adverse outcomes—from physical and mental illness to divorce and premature death—pointing to the need to develop a better understanding of the underlying brain circuitry. Recent work has begun to reveal the neural systems governing negative affect, but the relevance of these tantalizing laboratory discoveries to the real world has remained unclear. Here we used a combination of brain imaging and smartphone-based survey techniques to show that individuals marked by greater activation in a cingulo-opercular circuit during an anxiety-promoting laboratory paradigm tend to experience diminished distress in response to everyday stressors. These observations provide new insights into the brain systems most relevant to moment-by-moment fluctuations in negative mood, underscoring the importance of more recently evolved cortical association areas.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.