1. Strength, Affect Regulation, and Subcortical Morphology in Military Pilots.
- Author
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Cárdenas D, Madinabeitia I, Vera J, Perales JC, García-Ramos A, Ortega E, Catena-Verdejo E, and Catena A
- Subjects
- Adult, Affect, Body Composition, Cross-Sectional Studies, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Muscle Strength, Organ Size, Physical Endurance, Brain anatomy & histology, Emotions, Military Personnel, Physical Fitness, Pilots
- 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.
- Published
- 2018
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