fMRI Analysis of Emotion Regulation and its Developmental Trajectory

情绪调节及其发育轨迹的功能磁共振成像分析摘要在国家科学基金会的支持下，Gabrieli博士和他的同事将使用功能磁共振成像(FMRI)对支持情绪调节的大脑系统的成熟度进行为期三年的研究，功能磁共振成像是一种非侵入性技术，可以识别为特定情绪和认知过程招募的大脑区域。年龄在8岁到30岁之间的儿童和年轻人将参加两个实验，研究他们如何调节对高度负面或高度正面照片的初始情绪反应。这些研究将确定大脑的哪些区域最初对消极或积极的情绪体验做出反应，然后哪些大脑区域支持对这些情绪反应的认知调节。最令人感兴趣的是这些大脑反应是如何从童年后期到成年早期成熟或变化的。情绪调节是人类经验和行为的一个基本方面，也是思想(认知)和感觉(情绪)之间的相互作用，指导人们如何对周围发生的事情进行评估和行动。成功的情绪调节使人对困难的环境具有韧性，因此可以帮助人们避免痛苦或精神疾病，如严重的抑郁症。成功的监管还会促进亲社会行为，比如不对愤怒情绪做出暴力行为。人们普遍认为，儿童和青少年的情绪感受和成年人一样强烈，但随着儿童和青少年学会如何通过促进积极社交和长期心理健康的方式来调节自己的情绪，情绪的认知调节逐渐成熟。对青少年健康构成严重威胁的危险行为可能反映了情绪比情绪调节的认知方面更快成熟。尽管情绪调节对健康和社会功能很重要，但人们对其潜在的认知和神经机制知之甚少。例如，目前还不清楚人们是否使用相同的大脑系统来调节消极和积极的情绪。此外，关于这些机制如何支持儿童和青少年情绪调节的正常成熟，我们一无所知。这项研究的发现也可能揭示精神疾病的根源，这些疾病反映了人类大脑情绪调节通路的不利发展。

FMRI Analysis of Emotion Regulation and Its Developmental TrajectoryAbstractWith National Science Foundation support, Dr. Gabrieli and colleagues will conduct a three-year investigation of the maturation of the brain systems that support emotion regulation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a noninvasive technique that can identify brain regions recruited for specific emotion and cognition processes. Children and young adults, ages 8 to 30, will participate in two experiments that examine how they regulate an initial emotional response to either highly negative or highly positive photos. These studies will identify what brain regions initially respond to negative or positive emotional experiences, and what brain regions then support cognitive regulation of those emotional responses. Of greatest interest is how these brain responses mature, or change, from late childhood through early adulthood.Emotion regulation, the subject of this research, is a fundamental aspect of human experience and behavior, and the interaction between thoughts (cognition) and feelings (emotions) that guides how people evaluate and act on what is going on around them. Successful emotion regulation makes people resilient to difficult circumstances, and thus can help people avoid distress or psychiatric diseases such as major depression. Successful regulation also promotes prosocial behaviors, such as not behaving violently in response to feelings of anger. It is generally thought that children and adolescents have emotions as strongly felt as do adults, but that the cognitive regulation of emotion matures slowly as children and adolescents learn how to regulate their feelings in ways that promote positive social interaction and long-term mental health. Risky behaviors that pose severe health threats for adolescents may reflect the faster maturation of emotion than cognitive aspects of emotion regulation. Although emotion regulation is thus important for health and for social functioning, little is known about its underlying cognitive and neural mechanisms. For example, it is unknown whether people use the same brain systems to regulate negative and positive emotions. Further, nothing is known about how these mechanisms support the normal maturation of emotion regulation in childhood and adolescents. The findings from this research may also illuminate the roots of mental diseases that reflect a disadvantageous development of emotion regulation pathways of the human brain.