Event-related potential studies of emotion regulation: A review of recent progress and future directions

Event-related potentials (ERPs) bring many strengths to the study of emotion regulation, including: direct measurement of neural activity, high temporal resolution, affordability and suitability to a wide range of participants. Research using ERPs to study emotion regulation began approximately two decades ago, but has grown exponentially over the last 10 years. Here, we highlight progress in this body of work throughout the past decade, as well as emerging themes, novel approaches and paradigms that will likely shape the field in the coming years. While standardized picture sets are still the most commonly used stimuli in these studies, new types of stimuli (e.g., mental imagery, autobiographical memories) have become increasingly common throughout the past decade, with the potential for improved ecological validity. Cognitive reappraisal is still seen by many as the gold standard of emotion regulation, yet mixed findings suggest that its utility might be better understood by taking into account the type of stimuli and context to which it is applied. Moreover, other emotion regulation techniques, particularly for the upregulation of positive emotion (e.g., savoring), have been relatively unexamined in the ERP literature to-date, as have associations between controlled, lab-based measures of emotion generation and regulation in everyday life (e.g., as assessed using ambulatory techniques). In sum, the past decade has seen progress in a more granular understanding of emotion regulation, with ongoing and future work aimed at increasing understanding of the boundary conditions of emotion regulation; novel techniques and emotion regulation's application to everyday life.