The inter-relationships of the neural basis of rumination and inhibitory control: neuroimaging-based meta-analyses

Abstract

Rumination, as a clinical manifestation and pathogenic factor of depression, has long been the focus of psychological research regarding its causes and ameliorating approaches. Behavioral studies have shown that rumination is related to inhibitory control deficits, which provides ideas for reducing it. However, the neural relationship between them has not been clearly discussed. In this study, we first used multi-level kernel density analysis to conduct two meta-analyses of published functional magnetic resonance imaging studies: one was rumination comprising 17 studies with 180 foci, and the other was inhibitory control comprising 205 studies with 3791 foci. Conjunction analysis was then performed to explore the common brain regions and further decode them through Neurosynth to confirm the cognitive specificity. Results showed that rumination was mainly related to the default mode network (DMN), while inhibitory control was associated with the frontoparietal network (FPN). In addition, the common activation areas were mainly concentrated in the bilateral precuneus, right superior frontal gyrus, bilateral median cingulate, paracingulate gyri, and the left triangular part of inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Decoding results also revealed they were involved in inhibition, memory retrieval, and self-related processes. Our findings support that rumination is associated with inhibitory control and can be explained neurologically by an antagonistic relationship between the DMN and FPN. In sum, inhibitory control may be related to rumination via inhibiting task-unrelated attention and controlling self-related processing. This research will help us understand and predict rumination from the perspective of inhibitory control and reduce rumination through behavioral training of inhibitory control or the application of neuromodulation techniques to common activation regions.

Resting HRV as a trait marker of rumination in healthy individuals? A large cross-sectional analysis

“…In line with these results, the seminal neurovisceral integration model proposes that in healthy individuals, the prefrontal cortex is in control over subcortical areas, resulting in tonic inhibitory control of the parasympathetic branch of the ANS (i.e., higher HRV; Thayer & Lane, 2009). As a result, these neural and autonomic regulations result in less viscous cycles of ruminative thoughts and turn higher resting HRV (Song et al, 2022). However, in the current study, this association between the tendency to ruminate and baseline vagally-mediated HRV measured at rest cannot be observed in healthy individuals, even after controlling for gender, age, and the level of depressive symptoms.…”

Forgiveness, rumination, and self‐control as the predictors of adolescent life satisfaction: A comparison of two serial mediational models

“…Therefore, rumination is characterized by the failure of cognitive control over the past events and is related to negative cognition (Ciesla & Roberts, 2007;Watkins & Roberts, 2020). Recently, Song et al (2022) found that rumination and inhibitory control overlapped in brain regions (e.g., prefrontal cortex, which is involved in higherorder executive function), supporting the conclusion of behavior studies that rumination is related to inhibitory control (Ballesio et al, 2019;Zhou et al, 2020).…”

Mapping structural covariance networks of emotional withdrawal symptoms in males with methamphetamine use disorder during abstinence

“…The rACC as an important node in the VMN receives a dense dopaminergic innervation 40 related to emotional processes and attentional control, and potentiated responses of this region may contribute to abnormal responses to negative feedback in individuals with elevated negative affect, including anxiety and depressive symptoms 41 . The DMN, also called the self‐directed network, is responsible for self‐awareness, emotion, rumination and so forth 42 . Accumulating evidence has shown that both the parahippocampal and ICC are core components of the DMN associated with self‐related decision‐making 43 and the processing of human emotion 44,45 .…”