Automatic emotion processing as a function of trait emotional awareness: an fMRI study

Vladimir Lichev; Julia Sacher; Klas Ihme; Nicole Rosenberg; Markus Quirin; Jöran Lepsien; André Pampel; Michael Rufer; Hans-Jörgen Grabe; Harald Kugel; Anette Kersting; Arno Villringer; Richard D Lane; Thomas Suslow

doi:10.1093/scan/nsu104

Automatic emotion processing as a function of trait emotional awareness: an fMRI study

Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2015 May;10(5):680-9. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsu104. Epub 2014 Aug 19.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, Department of Neurology, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, Clinic of Cognitive Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, Department of Psychology, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, Department of Psychiatry, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, HELIOS Hospital, Stralsund, Germany, Department of Clinical Radiology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, and Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
² Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, Department of Neurology, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, Clinic of Cognitive Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, Department of Psychology, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, Department of Psychiatry, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, HELIOS Hospital, Stralsund, Germany, Department of Clinical Radiology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, and Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, Department of Neurology, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, Clinic of Cognitive Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, Department of Psychology, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, Department of Psychiatry, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, HELIOS Hospital, Stralsund, Germany, Department of Clinical Radiology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, and Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
³ Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, Department of Neurology, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, Clinic of Cognitive Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, Department of Psychology, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, Department of Psychiatry, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, HELIOS Hospital, Stralsund, Germany, Department of Clinical Radiology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, and Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, Department of Neurology, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, Clinic of Cognitive Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, Department of Psychology, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, Department of Psychiatry, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, HELIOS Hospital, Stralsund, Germany, Department of Clinical Radiology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany, Department of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, and Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany thomas.suslow@medizin.uni-leipzig.de.

Abstract

It is unclear whether reflective awareness of emotions is related to extent and intensity of implicit affective reactions. This study is the first to investigate automatic brain reactivity to emotional stimuli as a function of trait emotional awareness. To assess emotional awareness the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS) was administered. During scanning, masked happy, angry, fearful and neutral facial expressions were presented to 46 healthy subjects, who had to rate the fit between artificial and emotional words. The rating procedure allowed assessment of shifts in implicit affectivity due to emotion faces. Trait emotional awareness was associated with increased activation in the primary somatosensory cortex, inferior parietal lobule, anterior cingulate gyrus, middle frontal and cerebellar areas, thalamus, putamen and amygdala in response to masked happy faces. LEAS correlated positively with shifts in implicit affect caused by masked happy faces. According to our findings, people with high emotional awareness show stronger affective reactivity and more activation in brain areas involved in emotion processing and simulation during the perception of masked happy facial expression than people with low emotional awareness. High emotional awareness appears to be characterized by an enhanced positive affective resonance to others at an automatic processing level.

Keywords: automatic emotion processing; emotional awareness; implicit affect; neuroimaging.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Amygdala / physiology
Anger / physiology
Awareness / physiology*
Brain Mapping
Emotions / physiology*
Facial Expression*
Fear / physiology
Female
Happiness
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Psychomotor Performance / physiology
Social Perception*
Young Adult