Individual differences in typical reappraisal use predict amygdala and prefrontal responses

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology

Background:

• Reappraisal strategy effectively downregulates negative emotions, decreasing amygdala response and increasing prefrontal activity.
• The neural correlates of spontaneous reappraisal, independent of instructed use, remain largely unexplored.
• Spontaneous emotion regulation is crucial for navigating daily emotional challenges and understanding affective disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neural underpinnings of individual differences in spontaneous reappraisal.
• To determine if habitual reappraisal use correlates with brain activity during the processing of negative emotional stimuli.
• To examine the relationship between spontaneous reappraisal and measures of trait anxiety, neuroticism, and suppression.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-six healthy women underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a negative facial expression processing task.
• Participants completed self-report measures assessing typical emotion regulation strategies, trait anxiety, and neuroticism.
• Blood oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) signals were analyzed in relation to individual differences in reappraisal use.

Main Results:

• Higher habitual use of reappraisal was associated with reduced amygdala activation.
• Increased prefrontal and parietal activation was observed with greater spontaneous reappraisal.
• These findings were independent of trait anxiety, neuroticism, and the use of emotion suppression.

Conclusions:

• Individual differences in reappraisal use are linked to neural patterns similar to instructed reappraisal, involving decreased ventral emotion region activation and increased prefrontal control region activation.
• Spontaneous reappraisal may serve as a protective factor against affective disorders.
• Neural correlates of spontaneous emotion regulation could predict coping abilities and susceptibility to emotional dysregulation.