Controllability of structural brain networks and the waxing and waning of negative affect in daily life

Abstract Background The waxing and waning of negative affect in daily life is normative, reflecting an adaptive capacity to respond flexibly to changing circumstances. However, understanding of the brain structure correlates of affective variability in naturalistic settings has been limited. Using network control theory, we examine facets of brain structure that may enable negative affect variability in daily life. Methods We use diffusion weighted imaging data from 95 young adults (Mage = 20.19 years, SDage = 1.80; 56 women) to construct structural connectivity networks that map white matter fiber connections between 200 cortical and 14 sub-cortical regions. We apply network control theory to these structural networks to estimate the degree to which each brain region’s pattern of structural connectivity facilitates the spread of activity to other brain systems. We examine how the average controllability of functional brain systems relates to negative affect variability, computed by taking the standard deviation of negative affect self-reports collected via smartphone-based experience-sampling twice per day over 28 days as participants went about their daily lives. Results We find that high average controllability of the cingulo-insular system is associated with increased negative affect variability. We find that greater negative affect variability is related to the presence of more depressive symptoms, yet average controllability of the cingulo-insular system was not associated with depressive symptoms. Conclusions Our results highlight the role brain structure plays in affective dynamics as observed in the context of daily life, suggesting that average controllability of the cingulo-insular system promotes normative negative affect variability.