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Updated: May 22, 2026
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Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation
Published on: August 26, 2011
Amygdala-prefrontal coupling underlies individual differences in emotion regulation.
Hyejeen Lee1, Aaron S Heller, Carien M van Reekum
1Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53705, USA.
Neuroimage
|May 29, 2012
Summary
Individual differences in cognitive emotion regulation are stable over time. Greater skill in reappraising negative emotions correlates with stronger amygdala-prefrontal brain connectivity, indicating its importance for successful regulation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psychophysiology
Background:
- Limited understanding of individual differences in cognitive emotion regulation mechanisms.
- Few studies quantify regulatory success using objective measures.
- Neural bases of emotion regulation are increasingly studied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural mechanisms of individual differences in cognitive reappraisal of negative emotion.
- To assess the stability of emotion regulation ability over time.
- To link psychophysiological measures of emotion regulation to brain function.
Main Methods:
- Used corrugator electromyography as a trait-like psychophysiological measure of emotion regulation.
- Recruited 56 healthy men for two sessions, 1.3 years apart.
- Employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a cognitive reappraisal task.
Main Results:
- Corrugator electromyography measure of regulatory skill predicted amygdala-prefrontal functional connectivity.
- Individuals with higher regulatory ability showed greater amygdala attenuation.
- Enhanced inverse connectivity between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex was observed in skilled regulators.
Conclusions:
- Individual differences in emotion regulation are stable over approximately 1.3 years.
- Amygdala-prefrontal coupling is crucial for successful cognitive regulation of negative emotion.
- Psychophysiological measures can serve as objective indices of emotion regulation capacity.
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