SGER: The Psychophysiology of Emotion Regulation

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Self-regulation is the cornerstone of adaptive behavior, and nowhere is the capacity for self-regulation more critical than when it comes to emotions. Emotion regulation provides the basis for success at work and in interpersonal relations. Sustained attention at work requires that people put out of mind emotional impulses, and good interpersonal relations require that people judiciously monitor which emotions they express and how they express them. In the past two decades, emotion researchers have begun to rigorously examine emotion regulatory processes. However, further theoretical and empirical progress requires a deeper understanding of the neural substrates of emotion regulation. In this two-study exploratory project, state-of-the-art autonomic and central monitoring procedures will be used to examine the up- and down-regulation of approach and withdrawal tendencies, which together represent the basic elements of motivated behavior. These studies have two specific aims: (1) To determine the autonomic, behavioral, and subjective correlates of the regulation of approach- and withdrawal-related impulses; specifically, hunger and disgust. (2) To determine the neural correlates of self-regulation of approach and withdrawal, using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and simultaneous autonomic physiological recording. The first study will address Specific Aim 1 by recording autonomic, subjective, and behavioral responses from experimental participants who are regulating disgust and/or hunger under a variety of stimulus presentation conditions. The second study will address Specific Aim 2 by recording brain activity, autonomic physiology, and subjective experience in participants who are regulating their experience of disgust- and hunger-related stimuli selected on the basis of the results of Study 1.