ArticleBrain and behavior2023
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy approach to the emotional regulation effect of drawing: Venting versus distraction.
Article in Brain and behavior, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Art therapy and emotional pain: a scoping review of physiological and biological measures.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Validation of the Chinese version of Emotion Regulation Strategies for Artistic Creative Activities Scale (ERS-ACA-C) among Chinese college students majoring in art and design.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Strategies for Coping with Burnout among Palestinian Mental Health Practitioners throughout Wartimes: A Cross-sectional Study.Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH · 2025Article
- How the arts heal: a review of the neural mechanisms behind the therapeutic effects of creative arts on mental and physical health.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2024Article
- Functional near-infrared spectroscopy approach to the emotional regulation effect of drawing: Venting versus distraction.Brain and behavior · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDrawing can regulate emotions through venting or distraction. Distraction is more helpful for short-term emotion recovery; however, the sustainability of this difference is yet to be clarified. This study used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to explore potential differences between venting and distraction.
methodsA total of 44 college students participated in the experiment. After inducing fear by video, they were divided into two groups: The venting group drew their emotional experience, and the distraction group drew a house. Subsequently, the participants were instructed to relax by a brief video.
resultsAlthough the distraction group had a higher valence than the venting group at the end of the drawing activity, there was no difference between the two groups after a relaxation period. Additionally, the activation pattern of the prefrontal cortex differed between the two groups. Compared to the distraction group, the venting group had fewer channels with elevated prefrontal activity during drawing, suggesting less cognitive control, and had more channels with reduced prefrontal activity during relaxation, suggesting a higher level of relaxation. Drawing coding and fNIRS data were both associated with variations in valence.
conclusionThe less the cognitive control over emotion and the more free the expression of emotion during drawing, the higher the increase in valence; inversely, the more the cognitive control over emotion and the less free the expression of emotion, the lower the increase in valence.
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