Reframing
Reframing is one of the core concepts found in OptimalWork. Reframing is the process of deliberately discovering how a perceived threat is actually an opportunity.
The major claims of OptimalWork pertaining to reframing, and their basis in the neuroscientific literature, can be found below.
Contents
The Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex
First, it is our claim that a definite structure within the brain increases activity whenever reframing is performed, and that this structure is the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). We often call this the "appraisal center" of the brain. The vmPFC is a structure deep within the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that controls executive function.
Known roles of the vmPFC
Per the scientific literature, the vmPFC is a multifaceted structure with two primary functions:
- First, the vmPFC is the brain structure through which we make emotionally-laden decisions.<ref> When we consider a potential action, the vmPFC enables us to "simulate" the emotional consequences of that action, both good and bad. Using the vmPFC, we register emotional expectations, seeing (and weighing) the expected "amount" of expected reward and expected penalty that a given action would provide.
Thus, the vmPFC is where we deliberately weigh in our minds whether an action will be worth it. We can then make the decision either to welcome that action and the reward it will bring, or to reject that action and the threat it represents. The decision we make here will determine our level of physiological arousal and the branch(es) of the autonomic nervous system that are activated. It appears that this capacity to weigh and "feel" consequences is necessary for the execution of decisions that have emotional valence. For example, the vmPFC is well established as the seat of our moral, ideal-based choices. For the vmPFC, virtue is its own reward in a very literal sense! The vmPFC also allows us to simulate the minds of others [discuss theory of mind here; does this also give us empathy, or is there somewhere else in the brain that primarily does this?]. Economic decision-making occurs primarily with the vmPFC, as expected rewards and punishments are involved. In fact, vmPFC activity is chronically reduced in gamblers and addicts, indicating a certain "myopia for the future" that prevents the addict from feeling the full consequences of a choice. The neuroscientific literature has several examples of patients who have lost the above capabilities through vmPFC damage. Such patients are perfectly capable of describing the decisions they know they should make; when actually faced with an emotionally charged decision, however, the inability to "feel" the good choice makes them incapable of executing it.
- Second, the vmPFC is the generation and regulation of negative emotion, primarily through its interactions with the amygdala. The vmPFC has an established role as the nidus for extinction (safety) learning.
- vmPFC is specifically activated in the extinction of a negative stimulus and the “reversal” learning associated with turning a negative experience into a positive one (Oschner 2005, Phelps 2019/08/04, Finger 2008, Schiller 2008). During recall of extinction too (Milad 2007/02).
- Also implicated in present, in-the-moment positive reappraisal, turning a negative appraisal into a positive one (Nili 2010, Doré 2016).
- vmPFC is active in the regulatory control of emotions (Etkin 2011); its activation suppresses conditioned fear expression by the amygdala (Quirk 2003, Rosenkranz 2003, Likhtik 2005).
Evidence for the vmPFC's role in reframing
- Fear Thou Not (see below)
Reframing and the Autonomic Nervous System
vmPFC can be “taken offline” and suppressed when someone views a situation as a threat (Thayer 2009, Arnsten 1998, ____________ )
vmPFC has substantial projections into the amygdala (Quirk 2003, Rosenkranz 2003, Likhtik 2005, Oschner 2002, Ghashghaei 2007).
Reframing and Left-Right Neuroscience
Reframing is the ability to see a challenge in its broadest (therefore truest) possible context, which touches on left-right neuroscience.
[To be continued]
Sources:
Hiser J, Koenigs M. The Multifaceted Role of the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex in Emotion, Decision Making, Social Cognition, and Psychopathology. Biol Psychiatry. 2018 Apr 15;83(8):638-647. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.10.030. Epub 2017 Nov 20. PMID: 29275839; PMCID: PMC5862740. [vmPFC determined to have 2 distinct functions, (a) the representation of reward and value-based decision-making, and (b) the generation and regulation of negative emotion, both with connections to amygdala]
Andrewes DG, Jenkins LM. The Role of the Amygdala and the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex in Emotional Regulation: Implications for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Neuropsychol Rev. 2019 Jun;29(2):220-243. doi: 10.1007/s11065-019-09398-4. Epub 2019 Mar 14. PMID: 30877420. ['This review... support[s] the role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) as a moderator and inhibitor of the amygdala.'] [review]
Nili U, Goldberg H, Weizman A, Dudai Y. Fear thou not: activity of frontal and temporal circuits in moments of real-life courage. Neuron. 2010 Jun 24;66(6):949-62. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2010.06.009. PMID: 20620879. [subjects who chose to advance toward a feared stimulus (snake) saw subgenual ACC activity rise ~6 seconds before exposure to the snake] [also activity of the right temporal pole] [no similar activity in people who were unafraid of snakes, or in fearful subjects who approached a toy bear] [sgACC activity correlated with self-reported fear upon choice to advance] [several other areas within the right brain also] [randomized controlled trial]
Ochsner KN, Gross JJ. The cognitive control of emotion. Trends Cogn Sci. 2005 May;9(5):242-9. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2005.03.010. PMID: 15866151. [unclear how beneficial the Ochsner articles are, as their definition of reappraisal is different from reframing]
Ochsner KN, Bunge SA, Gross JJ, Gabrieli JD. Rethinking feelings: an FMRI study of the cognitive regulation of emotion. J Cogn Neurosci. 2002 Nov 15;14(8):1215-29. doi: 10.1162/089892902760807212. PMID: 12495527.
Jamieson JP, Mendes WB, Blackstock E, Schmader T. Turning the knots in your stomach into bows: Reappraising arousal improves performance on the GRE. J Exp Soc Psychol. 2010 Jan 1;46(1):208-212. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2009.08.015. PMID: 20161454; PMCID: PMC2790291. [we all know this one] [RCT]
For a good discussion of the neuroscience of reframing (support for dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and inverse relationship with amygalar activation): Modinos G, Ormel J, Aleman A. Individual differences in dispositional mindfulness and brain activity involved in reappraisal of emotion. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2010 Dec;5(4):369-77. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsq006. Epub 2010 Feb 10. PMID: 20147457; PMCID: PMC2999757. Also here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20147457/
