The Effect of Long-Term Learning of BaduanJin on Emotion Regulation: Evidence from Resting-State Frontal EEG Asymmetry

Purpose: Baduanjin, as a Chinese traditional fitness exercise, can help people regulate emotions and promote their physical and psychological health. However, the underlying neural mechanisms have not been thoroughly explored. This study aimed to examine the effects of differences in the level of Baduanjin learning on individuals' brain and psychological response related to emotion regulation. Methods: Twenty-two participants with long-term Baduanjin learning (for more than one year), and 21 participants with short-term Baduanjin learning (for approximately three months) were recruited. All participants were asked to do a complete 12-minute set of Baduanjin. Before and after doing Baduanjin, their resting-state EEG signals were collected, besides, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) and the Profile of Mood States-Short Form (POMS-SF) were used to assess participants' emotion regulation strategies and abilities. Results: The results of psychological measurement indicated that participants in the long-term group were more likely to use cognitive reappraisal as an emotion regulation strategy compared to participants in the short-term group (p<0.05). Moreover, the analysis of the frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) showed that participants in the long-term group rather than the short-term group exhibited significant left lateralization after doing Baduanjin (p<0.05). Conclusion: The findings provide preliminary evidence for the neural mechanism underlying how long-term Baduanjin learning promotes individuals' emotion regulation indexed by FAA. The study provides a new paradigm for research on how Baduanjin affects emotional regulation.