Cognitive Empowerment Effects of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Complex Problem Solving: Neural Mechanisms of Cross-Network Synergy

This research focuses on understanding the brain systems involved in the empowerment of cognition via the emotion regulation strategies used during complex problem solving. Sixty subjects were recruited and assigned to either a dual-task cognitive reappraisal training or control group and were asked to perform emotion-laden mathematical modelling tasks while Texas Instrument (TI) calculators interfaced. Functional magnetic resonance imaging scans indicated that reappraisal of cognitive strategies not only increased activation of the anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices but also decreased amygdala activation by 58.4% (BOLD signal). Subsequent analyses applying psychophysiological interaction and dynamic causal modelling showed strengthened intra-network functional connectivity in the reappraisal group, reporting amygdala-prefrontal functional connectivity with top-down regulatory signals inhibiting limbic activity 2.3s before suppression. Excitingly, the default mode network demonstrated positive adaptive coupling with the executive control network while regulating emotional processes, displaying Fisher’s z = 0.42±0.15, diverging from the anticorrelation standard. Performance data showed improved accuracy in mathematical modelling within the reappraisal group compared to the control (84.7±6.2% vs. 68.4±8.7%, p < 0.001). Neural changes occurred as a result of emotion regulation training mediating task performance, further supporting a cognitive model of mediation. These results provide a neurobiological rationale for emotion-cognition interventions with dual pathways highlighting the notion that emotion regulation acts as a cognitive resource optimiser through coordinated cross-network synergistic effects.