Change in emotional self-concept following socio-cognitive training relates to structural plasticity of the prefrontal cortex.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Longitudinal cohort study assessing neuroimaging and behavioral changes without control group details reported in abstract
PubMed 29670822 · doi:10.1002/brb3.940
What was done
As part of the longitudinal ReSource Project mental training study, researchers evaluated whether changes in emotional self-concept following socio-cognitive training targeting perspective-taking capacities were associated with structural brain changes. Emotional self-concept was assessed via emotional word use in the Twenty Statement Test, and structural plasticity was measured by changes in cortical thickness.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical figures, effect sizes, or test statistics. Individual differences in emotional self-concept change after training were positively related to cortical thickness increases in the right medial prefrontal cortex extending into the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Increased self-related negative emotional word use after training was positively associated with cortical thickness change in the left pars orbitalis and bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
Why it matters
The study links behavioral restructuring of the emotional self-concept through mental training with structural plasticity in prefrontal networks implicated in self-referential processing and cognitive control.
Limits
The abstract omits the sample size, participant characteristics, control group details, and all numerical statistics. The correlational design between word-usage changes and cortical thickness cannot establish direct causality.
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