Neural mechanisms associated with reappraisal and attentional deployment

Attentional deployment is an emotion regulation strategy that involves shifting attentional focus within an emotional scene in order to modulate emotional experience. Attentional deployment is widely used and effective at reducing negative affect, yet the supporting neural mechanisms are poorly understood. The rich literature on the neural correlates of reappraisal may help inform our understanding of attentional deployment, as reappraisal recruits common control regions associated with emotion regulation and may tap into specific mechanisms associated with directing attention. We highlight commonalities between reappraisal and attentional deployment and then focus on potentially unique aspects of attentional deployment, including the importance of parietal regions and implications for understanding the normative development of emotion regulation, as well as both well-being and psychopathology.