Neural correlates of emotional regulation while viewing films

Negative and arousal-inducing film clips were used to assess the neural correlates of emotional expression and suppression. Compared to viewing neutral clips, both negative (disgusting) and arousal (action) clips activated primarily posterior regions in the parietal and occipital cortex when participants were instructed to express their emotions. When instructed to suppress their emotions while viewing negative clips, a broad frontoparietal network was activated that included lateral, medial, and orbital regions in the prefrontal cortex as well as lateral and medial regions of the posterior parietal cortex. The suppression of arousal clips also activated prefrontal and parietal regions, though not to the same extent as the suppression of negative clips. The findings demonstrate the potency of using movies to engage emotional processes and highlight a broad frontoparietal network that is engaged during the suppression of negative film clips.