Individual differences in emotion regulation and hemispheric metabolic asymmetry

Recent studies of emotion regulation have reported that frequent use of reappraisal is associated with greater experience of positive emotions and increased sense of well-being, which, in turn, have been observed in individuals with greater left-sided prefrontal cortical activity. We hypothesized that frequent use of reappraisal would be correlated with greater left-sided biases of metabolic activity in prefrontal regions as well as in subcortical structures to which the former are interconnected. Twenty male volunteers were scanned at rest with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography. Self-reported emotion regulation style and an emotional regulation task were administered outside the scanner. Results revealed that frequent reappraisers showed greater left-sided biases of metabolic activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal and caudate regions. Regulation successes in increasing emotions were associated with left-sided metabolic asymmetry in the anterior cingulate. Findings suggest that asymmetric metabolism in prefrontal and subcortical regions are associated with emotion regulation style and also with regulation success.

► We correlate brain metabolic asymmetry with emotion regulation styles and success.
► Reappraisal was associated with left-sided metabolism in the DLPFC and caudate.
► Suppression was associated with right-sided metabolism in the VLPFC and insula.
► Regulation success was associated with asymmetry in the anterior cingulate.