高特质焦虑人群情绪调节功能的异常与可塑性机制

We have stepped into “an age of national anxiety”, and anxiety has become a disease widespread in China. High-trait-anxious individuals, a well-established risk population for the development of anxiety disorders, often experience persistent and high levels of negative emotions, signaling a potential abnormality in the down-regulation of negative emotions. It has therefore become the urgent demand of the development of the era to explore neural mechanisms underlying emotion regulation abnormality in high-trait-anxious individuals, and to utilize effective interventions to restore their emotion regulation function. Based on the condition mentioned above, this project carries out the following researches by taking advantage of ERP and fNIRS measures: 1) the abnormal mechanisms of attentional deployment and cognitive reappraisal in high-trait-anxious individuals; 2) cognitive training and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) intervention will be respectively utilized to enhance the effective implementation of emotion regulation in high-trait-anxious individuals, thereby reducing their negative emotional reactions; 3) by combining cognitive training with tDCS intervention, the function of emotion regulation of high-trait-anxious individuals will be further promoted when the effectiveness of cognitive training is enhanced by tDCS intervention. Through the above series of researches, the goal of the current project is to unravel the temporo-spatial dynamics of emotion regulation abnormalities in high-trait-anxious individuals, to verify the effectiveness of cognitive training and tDCS intervention in enhancing the function of emotion regulation in high-trait-anxious individuals and their plasticity in the brain, and to lay theoretic and practical bases for the treatment and prevention of anxiety.

当前的中国已经进入“全民焦虑”时期，焦虑症已成为当代中国的时代病。高特质焦虑人群作为焦虑症的高危人群，经常体验到持续的、高强度的负性情绪，这可能与其异常的情绪调节密切相关。因此，探究高特质焦虑人群情绪调节的异常并运用干预手段重塑其情绪调节功能已成为时代发展的迫切需求。基于此，凭借ERP、fNIRS的技术优势，本项目将开展以下工作：1）考察高特质焦虑人群对负性刺激注意分配与认知重评的异常；2）分别运用认知训练、经颅直流电刺激（tDCS）干预重塑高特质焦虑人群的情绪调节，从而降低其负性情绪；3）将认知训练与tDCS的优势互补，通过tDCS干预增强认知训练的效果，进而提升高特质焦虑人群的情绪调节功能。通过上述系列研究，将揭示高特质焦虑人群情绪调节异常的时空动态机制, 证实认知训练与tDCS干预促进高特质焦虑人群情绪调节的实效性及其大脑可塑性机制，从而为焦虑的治疗与预防奠定理论与实践基础。

当前的中国已经进入“全民焦虑”时期，焦虑症已成为当代中国的时代病。高特质焦虑人群作为焦虑症的高危人群，经常体验到持续的、高强度的负性情绪，这可能与其异常的情绪调节密切相关。认知重评作为情绪调节的适应性策略，要求个体重新解释情绪事件的意义来改变其情绪反应。研究首次采用脑电技术考察高特质焦虑人群能否有效运用引导性认知重评调节负性情绪。被试需要完成被动观看图片任务，但在每张图片呈现之前会播放对其图片内容的音频描述。对于负性的图片，音频对其内容的描述可能是偏中性或偏负性的；而对于中性图片，对其的描述只可能是中性的。研究中发现中央顶区LPP模式的异常不仅表明高特质焦虑人群无法有效运用引导性认知重评降低负性刺激诱发的神经反应，而且揭示了高特质焦虑人群引导性重评异常的时程动态机制。同时，本研究发现也提示，高特质焦虑人群认知重评的异常可能导致其体验到普遍较高的负性情绪。.随后的研究证实，积极重评与分离重评是情绪调节的两种不同的认知重评策略。然而，重要的是，研究检验特质焦虑对认知重新的影响时，往往将这些策略混为一谈。因此，研究进一步探讨高特质焦虑个体是否能够有效地利用积极重评与分离重评来调节对消极刺激的情绪反应。结果表明，即使在招募更强的认知过程中，高特质焦虑者也表现出情绪调节策略自我报告有效性的降低。因此，当高特质焦虑者使用积极重评与分离重评调节负性情绪时，其情绪调节效率降低。总体来看，高特质焦虑人群的引导性认知重评存在异常，这主要体现在神经层面。高特质焦虑人群能够使用自我产生的积极重评与分离重评降低负性情绪，但是情绪调节的效率降低。并且，高焦虑人群认知重评的关键问题可能在于在日常生活中很少使用认知重评策略。