Questão 11 - FAME 2024/2

INSTRUCTION: Read the following text to answer question.

 

In our research lab, we study what happens in our brains when we regulate our emotions. […] Our research asks what the brain is doing when people change how they think about a situation to help themselves feel better.

 

First, let us explore how we answer this question. We use a technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to take pictures of people’s brains while they are in a machine called an MRI scanner. A person can safely lay inside the scanner while scientists measure brain activity in real time. In a typical study in our lab, volunteers of all ages are invited to have their brains photographed in the MRI scanner while they look at pictures on a screen. Some of the pictures might cause the volunteers to feel sad or scared. For example, one picture might show two friends arguing, which might make the volunteers feel sad because it reminds them of a time they fought with a friend. The scientist will then ask the volunteers to change how they are thinking about the picture. For instance, the scientist might ask the volunteers to pretend they are the director and that the image is a scene in a movie they are directing. When the volunteers think about the picture this way, they can picture standing behind a camera, filming a scene in which two actors pretend to be in an argument. With this new way of thinking about the picture, the volunteers are thinking about how best to film the scene. For example, the volunteers could focus on whether the actors are in good lighting. Doing this might make the volunteers feel better, because they are not focused on how sad the picture makes them feel, but are instead thinking about it from a movie director’s perspective. While the volunteers are changing how they think about the pictures, the MRI scanner is taking pictures of their brains.

 

When we show a volunteer in the MRI scanner an emotional situation, such as an image of friends arguing or a clip from a scary movie, we usually see brain activity increase in the amygdala. The amygdala consists of two small, almond-shaped regions deep in the brain. When we are first presented with an emotional situation like a scary movie, the amygdala sends messages to the rest of the body. This is like an alarm system that keeps us safe from harm, letting us know that we might be in danger. In this way, the amygdala plays an essential role in our survival! In the scary movie example, though, we might want to change how we think about the situation so that we feel less scared. What is the brain doing when we think differently about a negative situation?

 

Attempting to change how we think about a situation requires an area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is important for many tasks that require a lot of mental effort, including language, planning, and controlling impulses and emotions. When we change how we think about a negative situation, several regions within the prefrontal cortex work together to decrease activity in the amygdala. This process is a bit like turning down the volume of loud music; activity in the prefrontal cortex “turns down” activity in the amygdala. In our example, when a volunteer first sees the picture of friends fighting, we would likely see increased activity in the volunteer’s amygdala. This increased activity would show that, as the brain initially reacts to the negative picture, brain cells within the amygdala respond to the image and send messages to other parts of the brain. Once the volunteer starts to think about the picture from a movie director’s perspective, however, we would likely begin to see activity increase in the volunteer’s prefrontal cortex, followed by a decrease in activity in the amygdala. This suggests that the prefrontal cortex is turning down the amygdala’s response as the volunteer considers the negative image in this new way.

Available at: https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ frym.2022.710002#ref5. Accessed on: Feb 28, 2024.

In the study lab described in the text, volunteers