The impact of stress on cognitive emotion regulation processes: Characterizing the temporal development and the presence of sex differences

认知调节情绪的能力对我们人类至关重要。无效的情绪调节或完全缺乏情绪调节被认为是精神障碍发展的重要触发因素。急性心理社会压力与负面情绪的增加有关。身体会对影响大脑功能的应激激素（如皮质醇）的释放做出反应。有效的情绪调节在暴露于压力期间和之后是至关重要的。与此同时，压力反应可能对调节情绪的能力有重大影响。拟议项目的目标是调查急性应激（研究I）或应激激素皮质醇（研究II）的药理学给药对使用不同策略的情绪调节功效的影响。三种不同的策略，根据其应用程序的情绪反应的时间过程（注意力调节，重新评价，抑制）将进行测试。将使用自我报告测量以及生理标志物（瞳孔扩张和皮肤电活动）评估情绪反应。作为一个额外的因素，将检查影响的时间动态，以评估皮质醇的快速非基因组和延迟基因组效应。此外，还将探讨性别和/或激素避孕药使用的影响。我们预计注意力调节策略尤其会受到压力的影响。相比之下，基于以前的工作，我们希望其他两个策略得到加强。更好地理解压力对认知情绪调节的影响对于基础研究和应用心理学都具有重要意义。

The ability to cognitively regulate our emotions is of vital importance for us humans. Ineffective emotion regulation or a complete lack thereof is regarded as an important trigger for the development of mental disorders. Acute psychosocial stress is associated with an increase in negative emotions. The body reacts with the release of stress hormones (e.g. cortisol) which influence brain function. An efficient emotion regulation is critical during and after exposure to stress. At the same time, the stress response presumably has a major influence on the capacity to regulate emotions. The goal of the proposed project is the investigation of the impact of acute stress (study I) or a pharmacological administration of the stress hormone cortisol (study II) on the efficacy of emotion regulation using different strategies. Three strategies differing according to their application with respect to the time course of the emotional response (attentional modulation, reappraisal, suppression) will be tested. The emotional response will be assessed using self-report measures as well as physiological markers (pupil dilation and electrodermal activity). As an additional factor, the temporal dynamics of the effects will be examined in order to assess rapid non-genomic and delayed genomic effects of cortisol. Furthermore, the impact of sex and/or the usage of hormonal contraceptives will be explored. We expect the strategy of attentional modulation in particular to be impaired by stress. In contrast, based on previous work, we expect the other two strategies to be enhanced. A better understanding of the impact of stress on cognitive emotion regulation is of relevance for both basic research and applied psychology.