Abstract #4149
Neural correlates of habitual expressive-suppression in trauma-exposed individuals
Luke Norman 1 , Andrew Iles 2 , Natalia Lawrence 2 , Abdelmalek Benattayallah 3 , and Anke Karl 2
1
Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Child
and Adolescent Psychiatry, King's College, London,
London, United Kingdom,
2
Mood
Disorders Centre, School of Psychology, University of
Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom,
3
Exeter
MR Research Centre, University of Exeter, Exeter, United
Kingdom
Expressive-suppression is a maladaptive
emotion-regulation method, which is associated with
increased post-traumatic symptoms following trauma.
Thirty-five individuals took part in the first
neuroimaging study of expressive-suppression in a
trauma-exposed population. We found that self-reported
use of expressive-suppression was associated with
decreased activation in the mPFC, and increased
activation in the insula, in an emotional-faces task.
Our findings suggest that deficits in mPFC limbic
circuitry may prompt compensatory use of
expressive-suppression in trauma exposed individuals.
Furthermore, they suggest that insula hyperactivation in
PTSD may partially result from increased habitual
expressive-suppression suppression to emotional material
in this population.
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