Journal
SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 17, Issue 1, Pages 131-141Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa066
Keywords
transcranial direct current stimulation; dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; anticipation; emotional processing; skin conductance response; pupillary response
Categories
Funding
- Research Foundation Flanders [G044016N, G044019N]
- Special Research Fund Ghent University [BOFSTA2017002501]
- Ghent University Multidisciplinary Research Partnership `The integrative neuroscience of behavioral control'
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The left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (lDLPFC) plays a crucial role in both anticipatory and online emotion regulatory processes. This study investigates the causal role of lDLPFC in these processes using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). The results indicate that active tDCS reduces arousal during confrontation with anticipated feedback and also decreases cognitive resource allocation during anticipation, suggesting that lDLPFC is causally implicated in the interplay between anticipatory and online emotion regulation.
The left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (lDLPFC) is implicated in anticipatory (i.e. during anticipation of emotional stimuli) and online (i.e. during confrontation with emotional stimuli) emotion regulatory processes. However, research that investigates the causal role of the lDLPFC in these processes is lacking. In this study, 74 participants received active or sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the lDLPFC. Participants were told strangers evaluated them. These (rigged) social evaluations were presented, and in 50% of the trials, participants could anticipate the valence (positive or negative) of the upcoming social feedback. Pupil dilation (a marker of cognitive resource allocation) and skin conductance responses (a marker of arousal) were measured. The results indicate that active (compared to sham) tDCS reduced arousal during the confrontation with anticipated feedback but only marginally during the confrontation with unanticipated feedback. When participants were given the opportunity to anticipate the social feedback, tDCS reduced arousal, irrespective of whether one was anticipating or being confronted with the anticipated feedback. Moreover, tDCS reduced cognitive resource allocation during anticipation, which was associated with resource allocation increases during the subsequent confrontation. Altogether, results suggest that the lDLPFC is causally implicated in the interplay between anticipatory and online emotion regulatory processes.
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