A new study of adult participants in committed relationships suggest that the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) helps people control their emotional reactions to negative facial expressions from their romantic partners. The findings indicate that compromised LPFC function may be a risk-factor for mood and behavioral problems after a stressful interpersonal event.

 Research subjects in the Biological Psychiatry study viewed positive, negative, and neutral facial expressions of their partners during a brain scan. In an online daily diary, participants reported conflict occurrence, level of negative mood, rumination, and substance use.

LPFC activity in response to the laboratory-based affective challenge predicted self-regulation after an interpersonal conflict in daily life. When there was no interpersonal conflict, LPFC activity was not related to mood or behavior the next day. However, when an interpersonal conflict did occur, LPFC activity predicted mood and behavior the next day, such that lower activity was related to higher levels of negative mood, rumination, and substance use.

The constructive management of negative emotional states that emerge inevitably within romantic relationships can be a critical facet of coping with the world. These relationships frequently serve as emotional havens from the stresses of the working world. Yet these relationships also may augment rather than reduce life stress. When that happens, problematic behaviors such as over-eating and substance abuse may increase.

"When activated in the context of intense emotion, it appears that the LPFC helps us to manage the intensity of negative emotions that emerge in social relationships. When this brain region does not efficiently activate or when the intensity of the conflict is very high, people need to learn behavioral strategies to cope with the emotional response. For some people this strategy can be as simple as counting to 10 before doing something that they might regret later," said Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry.

This study raises an important question. How can clinicians enhance the function of the LPFC when its function is compromised? Cognitive and behavioral strategies may be important treatment components.

As Dr. Hooker explained, their findings "suggest that imaging can provide potentially useful information about who may be vulnerable to mood and behavioral problems after a stressful event. We hope that future research will build on this idea and explore ways that imaging can be used to inform people about their emotional vulnerabilities."



Citation: Hooker et al., 'Neural Activity to a Partner's Facial Expression Predicts Self-Regulation After Conflict', Biological Psychiatry, March 2010, 67(5), 406-413; doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.10.014