Temporal Dynamics and Neural Bases of Emotion Regulation Under Emotional Load

描述（由申请人提供）：成功调节情绪的能力是人类最重要的能力之一。情感神经科学的基础研究已经开始阐明支持这种重要能力的认知过程，特别是证明了两种主要形式的情绪调节的有效性，即注意力部署（AD）和认知再评估（CR）。AD和CR被认为是通过不同的认知机制运作的，不同之处在于(1)它们何时影响情绪产生的时间轨迹，以及(2)它们参与的神经系统。关键的是，最近的行为研究表明，AD和CR受到被调节情绪强度的不同影响，在高水平的情绪负荷下，CR（而不是AD）变得不那么有效。情绪负荷对AD和CR差异影响的机制尚不清楚。本研究的长远目标是通过阐明AD和CR的时间动态和神经参与模式的关键差异，利用神经生物学知识框架来解释情绪负荷对AD和CR的不同影响。更具体地说，我们建议使用脑电图（EEG）和功能磁共振成像（fMRI）来检查不同情绪负荷水平下的AD和CR。我们假设（1a） AD会在早期减弱情绪刺激加工的皮层电指数（后期正电位，LPP），而CR会在后期减弱；重要的是，（1b） AD对LPP的早期衰减在不同情绪负荷水平下保持一致，但在高水平情绪负荷下，CR的后期衰减会减弱。其次，我们假设（2a） AD会调动参与注意控制的前额叶和顶叶区域，而CR会调动与认知控制和情感意义加工相关的外侧和内侧前额叶脑区域，最重要的是，（2b） AD通过注意脑区域对杏仁核活动的调节在不同水平的情绪负荷下是一致的。而杏仁核活动通过情感意义加工区域的调节会随着情绪负荷的变化而变化（在高情绪负荷下没有调节）。我们提出的研究将帮助我们理解为什么某些调节策略似乎在高水平的情绪负荷下失效并变得无效，并可能为高风险个体提供新的干预措施，基于这样的概念，为了优化他们的整体效用，调节策略可能需要根据情况的独特情绪需求灵活部署。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The ability to successfully regulate emotions is among the most critical of human capacities. Basic research in affective neuroscience has begun to elucidate the cognitive processes which support this vital ability, attesting in particula to the efficacy of two major forms of emotion regulation, attentional deployment (AD) and cognitive reappraisal (CR). AD and CR are thought to operate through distinct cognitive mechanisms, differing both in (1) when they impact the temporal trajectory of emotion generation, and (2) which neural systems they engage. Critically, recent behavioral research has shown that AD and CR are differentially affected by the intensity of the emotion to be regulated, with CR - but not AD - becoming less effective under high levels of emotional load. The mechanisms underlying this differential impact of emotional load on AD and CR remain unclear. The broad, long-term objective of this proposal is to use a neurobiologically informed framework to account for the differential effect of emotional load on AD and CR by elucidating key differences in their temporal dynamics and patterns of neural engagement. More specifically, we propose to use electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine AD and CR under differing levels of emotional load. We hypothesize that (1a) AD will attenuate an electrocortical index of emotional stimulus processing (the late positive potential; LPP) at an early phase, but that CR will do so at a later phase, and importantly, (1b) the early attenuation of the LPP by AD will remain consistent across varying levels of emotional load, but the late attenuation by CR will weaken under high levels of emotional load. Second, we hypothesize that (2a) AD will recruit prefrontal and parietal regions involved in attentional control, whereas CR will recruit lateral and medial prefrontal brain region which have been associated with cognitive control and with affective meaning processing, and crucially, (2b) the modulation of amygdala activity via attentional brain regions in AD will be consistent across varying levels of emotional load, but the modulation of amygdala activity via affective-meaning processing regions in CR will vary as a function of emotional load (with no modulation under high emotional load). Our proposed research will help us to understand why certain regulation strategies seem to break down and become ineffective under high levels of emotional load, and may suggest new interventions for high-risk individuals based on the notion that, in order to optimize their overall utility, regulation strategies may need to be flexibly deployed according to the unique emotional demands of the situation. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This proposal seeks to clarify the temporal dynamics and neural bases of two widely used forms of emotion regulation (attentional deployment, AD, and cognitive reappraisal, CR) under varying levels of emotional load. Drawing upon a neurobiologically-informed framework which sees AD and CR as operating via overlapping but separable mechanisms, this research will: a) delineate the mechanisms by which certain regulatory strategies - but not others - become ineffective under high levels of emotional load, and b) help provide an understanding of the temporal dynamics and patterns of neural engagement underlying emotion regulatory impairments in the highly intense emotional states that characterize many clinical disorders. Given that major therapeutic interventions focus on improving attentional and evaluative processes that constitute AD and CR, respectively, the proposed research will facilitate the development of novel clinical interventions - and key refinements in extant ones - informed by the idea that optimal emotion regulation depends upon flexibly applying distinct regulation strategies according to the unique emotional demands of the situation.