Publication:
Strength, affect regulation, and subcortical morphology in military pilots

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Date
2018
Authors
Cárdenas, David
Madinabeitía, Iker
Vera, Jesús
Perales, José C.
García-Ramos, Amador
Ortega, Enrique
Catena-Verdejo, Elvira
Catena, Andrés
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Publisher
Wolters Kluwer
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Abstract
Introduction: Previous studies have shown links of body composition and fitness measures with brain structure, as well as with different aspects of emotional adjustment and well-being. However, the possible role of trait emotion-regulation success in the relationship between fitness/body composition and emotion-related subcortical structures has never been directly addressed. Methods: Twenty-three elite helicopter pilots were assessed in fat mass percentage, an endurance test to volitional exhaustion, bench-press power output, and negative urgency (trait affect regulation failure). Their brains were scanned using magnetic resonance imaging to estimate the size of the accumbens/amygdala, considered together, and the thalamus. Resulting correlations were used to test the relationship between body composition/fitness measures and brain structures’ size, and the role of negative urgency therein, using structural equation modeling. Results: Fat mass percentage was associated with the size of the thalamus and the amygdala/accumbens. In the latter case, negative urgency and bench-press power output predicted structure size (and explained the effect of fat mass percentage away). In other words, bench-press power output and emotion regulation success (but not endurance performance) were associated with a larger amygdala/accumbens size. Conclusions: Bench-press power output and emotion regulation success are independently associated with a larger amygdala/accumbens size, although present evidence does not allow for determination of causal directionality.
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Keywords
Emotion regulation, Body composition, Physical strength, Combat helicopter pilots
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