Emotion regulation and pain : Behavioral and neuronal correlates: atransdiagnostic approach

Abstract

Emotions and emotion regulation are of special importance in the perception and modulation of pain but the mechanisms underlying this reciprocal relationship remain unclear. The transdiagnostic model provides an approach to explain the link between pain and emotion regarding cognitive and neuronal mechanisms and aims to identify mutual processes, which are relevant for both. Structural and functional imaging studies of pain indicate the involvement of specific cortical and subcortical structures, which also play an important role in emotion regulation. While numerous studies have investigated emotion regulation and their correlates in the central nervous system in pathological states, the research on emotion regulation in pain is still young. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of experimental and clinical studies of neuronal and behavioral correlates of pain-related emotion regulation. The current transdiagnostic approach may be able to enhance pain relief in the future.