Social Threat and Aging: Neural Mechanisms of Emotion Regulation

社会威胁与衰老：情绪调节的神经机制 情绪调节对社交行为至关重要，因为社交互动可能是相当大压力的来源。 特别是，情绪调节对于应对社交威胁是至关重要的，社交威胁被定义为对自尊或 社会地位。这种威胁在以后的生活中可能会特别突出，因为个人会处理地位的丧失和消极的 与老年有关的刻板印象。我们将使用行为方法结合功能磁共振成像(FMRI)和 扩散张量成像(DTI)研究老年人的情绪调节系统如何应对社会威胁。 此外，我们将调查对这一制度的运作构成挑战或促进的因素。加在一起， 拟议的5项神经成像研究将实现3个具体目标。首先，他们将调查老年人的情绪 监管体系是对社会威胁的回应。情绪调节系统依赖于大脑之间的相互作用 参与产生情绪的区域，如杏仁核，以及控制情绪表达的区域 和经验，比如前额叶皮质。我们将研究情绪调节系统是如何在 在个人层面上对个人构成威胁的情况(个人威胁)和对个人的威胁作为对 团体(刻板印象威胁)。其次，拟议的研究还将调查行政控制资源如何调节 老年人调节由社会威胁引起的情绪的能力。尽管健康的老年人通常会很好地适应 在情绪层面，有证据表明，他们通过积极下调来维持自己的情绪健康 负面情绪。这种持续的情绪调节策略对执行控制资源来说是繁重的，这些资源依赖于 在额顶网络上，已知会随着年龄的增长而下降。我们将调查个体差异是如何在 执行资源对老年人情绪调节系统的运行起调节作用。最后，提出了 研究将调查老年人对社会威胁的情绪调节反应是如何通过社会支持来增强的。 理论观点表明，随着年龄的增长，亲密的人际关系变得越来越重要。除其他外， 方法，我们将通过让配偶或伴侣提供鼓励和身体上的支持来研究社会支持的作用 在刻板印象威胁的情况下进行接触。综上所述，所提出的研究将阐明 老年人的情绪调节以及他们如何应对社会威胁。鉴于情绪调节依赖于 已知的因衰老而受损的执行控制网络，这项研究对 了解认知和情绪处理之间的相互作用在健康老龄化，以及在个人在 患阿尔茨海默氏症的风险。

Social Threat and Aging: Neural Mechanisms of Emotion Regulation Emotion regulation is critical for social behavior because social interactions can be the source of considerable stress. In particular, emotion regulation is essential for responding to social threat, which is defined as threats to self-esteem or social status. Such threats may be particularly salient in later life as individuals deal with loss of status and the negative stereotypes associated with old age. We will use behavioral methods in combination with functional MRI (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate how older adults' emotion regulation system cope with social threat. Additionally, we will investigate factors that either challenge or facilitate the operation of this system. Taken together, the proposed 5 neuroimaging studies will achieve 3 specific aims. First, they will investigate how older adults' emotion regulation system responds to social threat. The emotion regulation system depends on the interplay between brain regions involved in generating emotions, such as the amygdala, and regions that exert control over emotional expression and experience, such as the prefrontal cortex. We will examine how the emotional regulation system operates in condition of threat to the individual at personal level (personal threat) and threat to the individual as a memory of a group (stereotype threat). Second, the proposed studies will also investigate how executive control resources modulate older adults' ability to regulate emotions elicited by social threat. Although healthy elderly are normally well adjusted at the emotional level, there is evidence that they maintain their emotional well-being by actively down-regulating negative emotions. This continuous emotion regulation strategy is taxing for executive control resources, which depend on frontoparietal networks that are known to decline with age. We will investigate how individual differences in executive resources modulate the operation of the emotional regulation system in older adults. Finally, the proposed studies will investigate how older adults' emotion regulation responses to social threat are enhanced by social support. Theoretical views suggest that close interpersonal relationships become increasingly important with age. Among other methods, we will study the role of social support by having a spouse or partner provide encouragement and physical contact under conditions of stereotype threat. Taken together, the studies proposed will clarify neural mechanisms of emotional regulation in older adults and how they respond to social threat. Given that emotion regulation depends on executive control networks that are known to be impaired by aging, this research has direct implications for understanding the interaction between cognitive and emotional processing in healthy aging, as well as in individuals at risk of Alzheimer's disease.