Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 26, 2025
Exploring the Neural Correlates of Cognitive Reappraisal in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Using Task-based Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: March 14, 2025
Neural characteristics of cognitive reappraisal success and failure: An ERP study
Dan Cao1, Yingjie Li1, Margaret A Niznikiewicz2
1Shanghai Institute for Advanced Communication and Data Science, School of Communication and Information Engineering, Qianweichang College, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.
Introduction:
Cognitive reappraisal, an important strategy of emotion regulation, can change emotional experience and attention to emotional information. However, not all individuals can deploy reappraisal strategies successfully. In the current study, we investigated event-related potential (ERP) characteristics of reappraisal success and of reappraisal failure.
Methods:
Twenty-six participants were divided into the success group or the failure group based on self-report ratings of how successful they were in reducing their response to negative images using cognitive reappraisal strategy. All participants viewed 30 neutral images and 30 negative images which they were asked to just watch, and 30 negative stimuli that they were asked to reappraise, while electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded.
Results:
The success group reported a significant reduction in the unpleasantness of negative images than the failure group in the negative-reappraisal condition. The ERP data indicated that two time windows differentiated between the success and failure groups. In 200-300 ms, P200 was significantly more positive to the negative-watch condition relative to both negative-reappraisal and neutral conditions in the failure group, while no difference was observed in the success group. In 300-5,000 ms, cognitive reappraisal led to increased late positive potential (LPP) relative to negative-watch in the early and middle latency windows (300-3,100 ms) in both groups; in the late latency window (3,100-5,000 ms), the reappraisal success group showed the LPP amplitude to the negative-reappraisal stimuli to be more positive than to the negative-watch stimuli, while no difference was found in the reappraisal failure group.
Conclusion:
Our study provided direct evidence that different neurophysiological features were associated with reappraisal success and failure while engaging in the reappraisal of negative stimuli. This result will contribute to better understanding of the neural mechanism of emotion regulation in emotional disorders (i.e., depression and anxiety).
More Related Videos
12:00Investigating the Effects of Antipsychotics and Schizotypy on the N400 Using Event-Related Potentials and Semantic Categorization
Published on: November 19, 2014
08:24The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
Published on: August 25, 2023
Related Concept Videos
01:20Lazarus's Cognitive Appraisal Theory
Primary Appraisal:...
01:24Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
01:17Cognitive Theories: Lazarus Mediational Theory of Emotion
Cognitive Appraisal and Emotional Response
Lazarus proposed that...
01:29The Influence of Cognition on Affect
01:21Cognitive Learning
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
01:29Self-Efficacy