Neural Correlates of Emotional Regulation Processing

The neural mechanism of emotion regulation had been widely concerned while still unclear. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to investigate and highlight common neural correlates of emotion regulation in healthy populations. During this task, 51 participants were required to down-regulate their emotion when viewing negative images with reappraisal and expressive suppression strategies. Using ERP and source current density analysis, the present study provided precise time frame and construct destiny sources map to show the temporal unfolding of neural events that occur during emotion regulation processes. Results showed that: (1) Emotion regulation processing starts from early attention selection to late emotion experiences processing, represented by decreased P2 and LPP to negative stimulus during emotion regulation. (2) LPP derived from prefrontal gyrus, with different neural circles involving in reappraisal and suppression emotion regulation. (3) There is conflict between the self-reporting and ERP results, indicating the necessary of using objective research methods in study of emotion regulation.