# Integrating Peripheral and Neural Measures of Emotion Regulation in Suicidal Behavior

> **NIH NIH F32** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2022 · $67,174

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States. Recent neuroimaging studies have
identified alterations in neural networks involved in emotion regulation in suicidal populations, and such
research may be important to informing clinical interventions. Still, it remains unclear how these
alterations uniquely contribute to suicidal behavior. Integrating peripheral autonomic measures of
emotion with neuroimaging (fMRI) may help further delineate mechanisms of emotion dysregulation
that increase risk for suicide. Autonomic cardiac reactivity plays a critical role in the formation and
subjective experience of emotion. Altered autonomic responses to risky decisions are implicated in
maladaptive emotional responding and behavior, and evidence suggests that deficits in perception of
autonomic cues contribute to acquired capability for suicide. However, peripheral measures of emotion
are rarely studied in conjunction with fMRI in suicidal populations. The current study aims to integrate
fMRI with heart rate variability (HRV), a peripheral index of parasympathetically-mediated vagal control
of the cardiac rhythm that facilitates adaptive emotional responding. Specifically, we aim to 1) examine
alterations in autonomic reactivity to emotion in suicide attempters, 2) investigate how synchrony
between HRV and fMRI connectivity is related to emotion regulation, and 3) compare HRV—fMRI
synchrony and emotion regulation in suicide attempters relative to depressed non-attempters and
controls. We hypothesize that asynchrony in the dynamic coordination of autonomic and neural
responding underlies emotion regulation deficits in suicide attempters. We expect that suicide
attempters will demonstrate blunted HRV, less synchrony between HRV and functional connectivity,
and less effective emotion regulation, relative to depressed non-attempters and controls. To accomplish
these aims, we will simultaneously acquire electrocardiogram (ECG) data and fMRI in the context of an
emotion regulation task. ECG will be used to derive a time series of HRV. Cross-correlational analyses
will be used to assess synchrony between HRV and functional neural connectivity of ventromedial
prefrontal cortex and limbic networks (regions involved in emotion regulation), and how these systems
interact to impact emotional functioning. Key innovations include: 1) integration of fMRI with autonomic
indices of emotion to 2) examine alterations in temporal dynamics of emotional responding across
multiple physiological systems in 3) suicide attempters. Our long-term goal is to better understand
body-brain emotion states that contribute to suicidal behavior, in service of ultimately informing
prevention and intervention efforts for suicide.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10537423
- **Project number:** 1F32MH131413-01
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Sarah Herzog
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $67,174
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-15 → 2025-09-14

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10537423

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10537423, Integrating Peripheral and Neural Measures of Emotion Regulation in Suicidal Behavior (1F32MH131413-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10537423. Licensed CC0.

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