Reframing

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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.

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.[1]

When we consider a potential action, the vmPFC enables us to "simulate" the emotional consequences of that action, both good and bad.[2] 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.[3]
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. [citation needed]
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.[4][5][6] For the vmPFC, virtue is its own reward in a very literal sense! The vmPFC also allows us to simulate the minds of others,[7] particularly others' emotional states,[8] which is important in our ability to develop empathy.[9] Economic decision-making occurs primarily with the vmPFC, as expected rewards and punishments are involved.[10][11] 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.[12][13][14]
The neuroscientific literature has several examples of patients who have lost the above capabilities through vmPFC damage.[15][16] 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.[17]

Second, the vmPFC is the generation and regulation of negative emotion, primarily through its interactions with the amygdala.[1]

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]


References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 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.
  2. ↑ Juechems K, Balaguer J, Ruz M, Summerfield C. Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Encodes a Latent Estimate of Cumulative Reward. Neuron. 2017 Feb 8;93(3):705-714.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2016.12.038. PMID: 28182906.
  3. ↑ Levy DJ, Glimcher PW. The root of all value: a neural common currency for choice. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2012 Dec;22(6):1027-38. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2012.06.001. Epub 2012 Jul 3. PMID: 22766486; PMCID: PMC4093837.
  4. ↑ Cameron CD, Reber J, Spring VL, Tranel D. Damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex is associated with impairments in both spontaneous and deliberative moral judgments. Neuropsychologia. 2018 Mar;111:261-268. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.01.038. Epub 2018 Jan 31. PMID: 29382558; PMCID: PMC5866785.
  5. ↑ Bartra O, McGuire JT, Kable JW. The valuation system: a coordinate-based meta-analysis of BOLD fMRI experiments examining neural correlates of subjective value. Neuroimage. 2013 Aug 1;76:412-27. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.02.063. Epub 2013 Mar 15. PMID: 23507394; PMCID: PMC3756836.
  6. ↑ Barrash J, Tranel D, Anderson SW. Acquired personality disturbances associated with bilateral damage to the ventromedial prefrontal region. Dev Neuropsychol. 2000;18(3):355-81. doi: 10.1207/S1532694205Barrash. PMID: 11385830.
  7. ↑ Jenkins LM, Andrewes DG, Nicholas CL, Drummond KJ, Moffat BA, Phal P, Desmond P, Kessels RP. Social cognition in patients following surgery to the prefrontal cortex. Psychiatry Res. 2014 Dec 30;224(3):192-203. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2014.08.007. Epub 2014 Aug 19. PMID: 25284626.
  8. ↑ Sebastian CL, Fontaine NM, Bird G, Blakemore SJ, Brito SA, McCrory EJ, Viding E. Neural processing associated with cognitive and affective Theory of Mind in adolescents and adults. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2012 Jan;7(1):53-63. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsr023. Epub 2011 Apr 4. PMID: 21467048; PMCID: PMC3252629.
  9. ↑ Lev-Ran S, Shamay-Tsoory SG, Zangen A, Levkovitz Y. Transcranial magnetic stimulation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex impairs theory of mind learning. Eur Psychiatry. 2012 May;27(4):285-9. doi: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2010.11.008. Epub 2011 Feb 15. PMID: 21324655.
  10. ↑ Koenigs M, Tranel D. Irrational economic decision-making after ventromedial prefrontal damage: evidence from the Ultimatum Game. J Neurosci. 2007 Jan 24;27(4):951-6. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4606-06.2007. PMID: 17251437; PMCID: PMC2490711.
  11. ↑ Pujara MS, Wolf RC, Baskaya MK, Koenigs M. Ventromedial prefrontal cortex damage alters relative risk tolerance for prospective gains and losses. Neuropsychologia. 2015 Dec;79(Pt A):70-5. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.10.026. Epub 2015 Oct 24. PMID: 26597003; PMCID: PMC4679627.
  12. ↑ Bechara A, Dolan S, Denburg N, Hindes A, Anderson SW, Nathan PE. Decision-making deficits, linked to a dysfunctional ventromedial prefrontal cortex, revealed in alcohol and stimulant abusers. Neuropsychologia. 2001;39(4):376-89. doi: 10.1016/s0028-3932(00)00136-6. PMID: 11164876.
  13. ↑ Bechara A, Damasio H. Decision-making and addiction (part I): impaired activation of somatic states in substance dependent individuals when pondering decisions with negative future consequences. Neuropsychologia. 2002;40(10):1675-89. doi: 10.1016/s0028-3932(02)00015-5. PMID: 11992656.
  14. ↑ Bechara A, Damasio H. Decision-making and addiction (part I): impaired activation of somatic states in substance dependent individuals when pondering decisions with negative future consequences. Neuropsychologia. 2002;40(10):1675-89. doi: 10.1016/s0028-3932(02)00015-5. PMID: 11992656.
  15. ↑ Bechara A, Damasio AR, Damasio H, Anderson SW. Insensitivity to future consequences following damage to human prefrontal cortex. Cognition. 1994 Apr-Jun;50(1-3):7-15. doi: 10.1016/0010-0277(94)90018-3. PMID: 8039375.
  16. ↑ Bechara A, Van Der Linden M. Decision-making and impulse control after frontal lobe injuries. Curr Opin Neurol. 2005 Dec;18(6):734-9. doi: 10.1097/01.wco.0000194141.56429.3c. PMID: 16280687.
  17. ↑ Damasio AR. Descartes' Error. New York: Putnam; 1994.
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