CAREER: The Effects of Process Facilitation on Emotion Regulation

我们可以尝试通过改变我们的想法来改变我们的情绪，但有时这并不成功。这个职业项目测试了一项创新的预测，即某些思想会触发神经过程，以提高我们在特定条件下调节情绪的能力。丹佛大学的研究人员卡特里·麦克雷博士将研究一个人正在做什么，以及在改变他们的思维之前，他们的大脑中哪些部分最活跃，这是否会起到重要作用。当一项任务使用的认知过程与情绪调节过程中使用的大脑区域重叠时，随后的调节将更容易和更有效。职业项目的教育部分包括两个部分。首先，本科生将与社区成员合作开发关于情绪和情绪调节的多媒体资源，这些资源将通过互联网提供。其次，面向社区和代表性不足的学生的外联活动将侧重于教他们如何从心理科学中得出有效的结论，并学习神经科学方法特别能告诉我们什么。这个项目的潜在好处包括发现允许人们管理自己情绪的条件。这个职业计划的中心假设是，重叠的认知和神经过程通过加强认知重新评估为情绪调控铺平了道路。这一假设的核心是，人们拥有可以用来影响自己情绪的工具，而不是被动地成为情绪的受害者。这个项目测试了三个认知过程有助于随后的情绪调节的假设。第一个过程涉及我们的大脑快速有效地解决冲突的倾向。这个项目考察了认知过程对情绪冲突解决的影响。第二个过程是减少自我关注，从而减少情绪反应。第三个过程涉及自上而下的情感产生，比如通过语言或丰富的叙事产生的情感。经过验证的实验操作在六个实验室实验中使用了多种影响测量方法。三个候选过程中的每一个都将在各自的研究中进行操纵。将使用心理生理学测量(例如，皮肤电活动、心率、呼吸)和自我报告，并检查它们对认知重新评估的影响。三项fMRI神经成像研究(每个过程一项)将检验这一假设，即重叠的神经过程是认知重新评估的有效前驱。最后，一项大规模的神经成像分析将在三项fMRI研究中崩溃，以确定在不同背景下成功认知重新评估的共同大脑区域。教育传播计划包括让本科生与社区成员合作开发多媒体演示文稿，并讨论专注于有效和准确结论的神经科学研究方法。其含义包括更好地理解导致有效情绪调节的过程，从而提高个人幸福感和生产率。其影响还包括促进不同人群对心理科学的更好理解。

We can try to change our emotions by changing our thoughts, but sometimes this is not successful. This CAREER project tests the innovative prediction that certain thoughts engage neural processes to improve our ability to regulate emotions under certain conditions. The researcher, Dr. Kateri McRae, at the University of Denver, will examine whether what a person is doing and what parts of their brain are most active, just before changing their thinking, will matter. When a task uses cognitive processes that overlap with brain regions used during emotion regulation, then the regulation that follows will be easier and more effective. The educational portion of the CAREER projects has two parts. First, undergraduate students will partner with community members to develop multimedia resources about emotions and emotion regulation that will be available via the internet. Second, outreach to the community and underrepresented students will focus on teaching them about making valid conclusions from psychological science, and learning what neuroscience measures in particular can tell us. The potential benefits of this project include discovering the conditions that allow people to manage their emotions. Benefits also include educating a large community about emotion regulation, neuroscience, and the scientific method.The central hypothesis of this CAREER proposal is that overlapping cognitive and neural processes pave a path for emotion regulation by enhancing cognitive reappraisal. Central to this hypothesis is that rather than being passive victims of their emotions, people have tools they can use to influence their emotions. This project tests the hypothesis that three cognitive processes facilitate subsequent emotion regulation. The first process involves our brains' tendency to resolve conflict quickly and efficiently. This project examines the effects of cognitive processes involved in emotional conflict resolution. The second process is decreasing self-focus and thus emotional responses. The third process involves top-down emotion generation, such as that generated via language or rich narratives. Validated experimental manipulations are used with multiple measures of affect across six laboratory experiments. Each of the three candidate processes will be manipulated in their own study. Psychophysiological measures (e.g., electrodermal activity, heart rate, respiration) and self-reports will be used, and their effects on cognitive reappraisal examined. Three fMRI neuroimaging studies (one per process) will test the hypothesis that overlapping neural processes characterize effective precursors of cognitive reappraisal. Lastly, a large-scale neuroimaging analysis will collapse across the three fMRI studies to identify brain regions that are common to successful cognitive reappraisal across contexts. The educational dissemination plan includes having undergraduate students work with community members to develop multimedia presentations, and discussing neuroscience research methods focusing on valid and accurate conclusions. The implications include a better understanding of processes that lead to efficient emotion regulation, thereby enhancing personal well-being and productivity. The implications also include facilitating better understanding of psychological science across a variety of populations.