Neurobiological Basis of Emotional Intelligence

NCT ID: NCT01721356

Last Updated: 2012-11-05

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Total Enrollment: 70 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2009-09-30
• Study Completion Date: 2012-05-31

Brief Summary

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is defined as the ability to accurately perceive and identify emotions in oneself and others, understand and use emotions to enhance cognitive processes, and effectively manage one's own emotions as well as those of others. Two major approaches to the construct of emotional intelligence have emerged. These two approaches can be broadly defined as the Trait and Ability Approaches. The Trait Approach, which is typically assessed via self-report measures such as that Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory, appears to be strongly related to existing models of personality and coping. The other major approach to EI follows an Ability Model, assuming that EI is similar to but distinct from other types of cognitive intelligence, and involves measurement of a variety of skills and abilities related to emotional processing. An understanding of the neurobiological substrate of emotional intelligence is beginning to emerge. One influential theory that is particularly relevant to the neurobiology of emotional intelligence is the "somatic marker hypothesis," yet there still remains a limited understanding of the neurobiological basis of EI. The proposed investigation will attempt to provide the most comprehensive study to date examining the behavioral, psychological, functional, and brain structural correlates of EI. The proposed study will use neuroimaging techniques to examine the relationship between current measures of EI, behavioral expression of emotionally competent capacities, brain functional responses, and structural cerebral organization.

The specific questions to be addressed and their associated hypotheses are:

1. The two major approaches to EI (i.e., Trait vs. Ability) will show only modest, though significant positive correlations with one another.

2. EI Trait measures will be highly correlated with measures of personality but weakly correlated with specific skills such as facial affect identification, emotional decision-making, and affectively based judgments, whereas EI Ability measures will correlate more highly with specific emotional skill measures.

3. During functional MRI affective challenge tasks, EI scores will be negatively correlated with activity within the Somatic Marker Circuitry suggested by Damasio and colleagues (i.e., ventromedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, insular cortex), as suggested by the neural efficiency hypothesis.

Conditions

Emotional Intelligence

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: COHORT
• Study Time Perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL

Study Groups

Healthy individuals

Healthy individuals ranging in age, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and years of education

No interventions assigned to this group

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Age range between 18 and 45
• Right handed
• Primary language must be English

Exclusion Criteria

• Any history of neurological illness, current DSM-IV Axis I disorder, lifetime history of major depression or psychotic disorder, or head injury with loss of consciousness > 30 minutes
• Complicating medical conditions that may influence the outcome of neuropsychological assessment or functional imaging (e.g., HIV)
• Mixed or left-handedness
• Current score of 15 or greater on Beck Depression Inventory
• Abnormal visual acuity that is not corrected by contact lenses
• Metal within the body, claustrophobia, or other contraindications for neuroimaging
• Less than 9th grade education
• Evidence of impaired reading comprehension
• Excess alcohol use (Males: regular intake of 5+ drinks on one occasion or >2 drinks per day on average for past 2 months; Females: 4+ drinks per day or >1 drink per day on average for past 2 months)
• History of alcoholism or substance use disorder
• Use of illicit drugs
• Best of 4 learning trials of Memory Suppression Task Training below 85%
• Indication of invalid responding, potentially including elevated Omission Rate, Inconsistency Index, or Positive/Negative Impression scales on EQi, or elevated Omission Rate or Scatter score on MSCEIT

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 45 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Mclean Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

William Killgore

Associate Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

William D Killgore, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Mclean Hospital

References

Bajaj S, Raikes AC, Razi A, Miller MA, Killgore WD. Blue-Light Therapy Strengthens Resting-State Effective Connectivity within Default-Mode Network after Mild TBI. J Cent Nerv Syst Dis. 2021 May 19;13:11795735211015076. doi: 10.1177/11795735211015076. eCollection 2021.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 34104033 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

W81XWH-09-1-0730

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id