Studies consistently show that both the dorsal/ventral ACC and medial PFC are recruited during the fear response. With regards to SAD, the ACC/mPFC complex is most likely associated with the evaluation of social feedback and conflict resolution. Individuals with lower self-esteem, who also tended to score higher on the STAI, showed hyperactivation of the ventral ACC/mPFC in response to positive social feedback. Activation of the dorsal ACC/mPFC was also observed during cognitive reappraisal. Taken together, these findings suggest a potential protective role of the ACC/mPFC complex against common symptoms of SAD.

Interactions between ACC and PFC in SAD

Data collection for studies investigating the effects of cognitive reappraisal in children and adolescents involve observational studies, self-report questionnaires, and interviews with multiple informants (i.e. parents, teachers). These methods are subjective in nature and lack generalizability, therefore more objective measures are needed to properly evaluate the benefits of cognitive reappraisal in younger populations. One such measure is to record event-related potentials via electroencephalogram.

Measures of cognitive reappraisal in children and adolescents

Myruski et al. (2019) compared LPPs between American and Japanese children across different social contexts (i.e. parent-scaffolding, parent-present, & parent-absent). Parent-scaffolding and parent-present LPP amplitudes were lower during the reappraisal task compared to parent-absent LPP amplitudes. This suggests that both groups of children were better able to reappraise when their mothers were either actively scaffolding their reappraisal capabilities or simply present in the room during the reappraisal task compared to when the mothers were absent. There were no significant interactions between culture and social context. Future directions for this area of research should take into consideration potential intracultural differences in child emotional regulation and childrearing, such as socioeconomic status, education, and/or ethnicity.

Cultural neuroscience and emotional regulation in children

Cognitive reappraisal is an emotional regulation strategy that encourages the reinterpretation of an emotional stimulus in order to change the meaning of the stimulus.

Pomona College

The body and mind has multiple ways of responding to emotions. 

Emotions, aggression and stress in the brain

The up- or down-regulation of either the magnitude or duration of an emotional response

Emotional Regulation 

Etkin, A., Egner, T., & Kalisch, R. (2011). Emotional processing in anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(2), 85–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2010.11.004

Emotional processing in anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex (2011)

- Theories of emotion
- Evolutionary viewpoint of emotions
- How many emotions are there
- Brain circuits for different emotions
- Neural circuitry of violence and aggression
- Stress and body responses
- Emotions and the immune system

Subjects in emotions, aggression and stress in the brain

- Fear is one of Paul Ekman's 6 basic emotions that he believes are universal and genetically predisposed.
- Charles Darwin's theory of serviceable habits suggests that there is something adaptive in the form of the expression itself. Hence for example, the facial expression for fear is adaptive because you have to take as much information as possible to assess the environment and situation. 

Fear

Chronic pain is pain that is experienced for many days during a week for three months or more, and can either be a primary or secondary symptom. 

Chronic Pain

Cognitive Reappraisal

A response that is evoked automatically by the stimulus itself without insight or awareness

Implicit Emotional Regulation 

Emotional regulation that requires conscious effort for initiation and active monitoring of emotion during implementation


Explicit Emotional regulation 

An attempt by oneself to regulate their own emotions 

Intrinsic Emotional Regulation 

An attempt to change someone else's emotions

Explicit Emotional Regulation 

The emotional response can modulated at each of the different stages of emotion. Situation selection refers to taking steps to influence which situation one will be exposed to. Situation modification is changing one or more relevant aspects of the situation. Attentional deployments is the influencing which portions of the situation are perceived. Cognitive change consists of altering the way the situation is cognitively represented. The last step is response modulation, which is directly modifying emotion-related actions. (Gross, 1998.)

Process of Emotional Regulation


Infants majority use extrinsic regulation (via parents,) while maintaining little intrinsic regulation (such as gaze aversion.)
Children shift from extrinsic to intrinsic as development processes.
Adolescents rely on intrinsic regulation, majority refusing extrinsic emotional regulation.
Adults utilize both intrinsic and extrinsic regulation.

Development and Emotional Regulation


Emotional Regulation

Emotional regulation and emotional development

The Extended Process Model of Emotion Regulation: Elaborations, Applications, and Future Directions

ODD & Conduct Disorder

From anatomy to function: the role of the somatosensory cortex in emotional regulation

Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being

Emotional Regulation Library 

Autism Spectrum Disorder 

Anxiety Disorders 

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorders

Oppositional defiant and conduct disorders

Depressive disorders

Emotional Regulation Disorders

Emotional Regulation Treatments 

Research in the emerging field of cultural neuroscience suggests that culture influences one's sensitivity and reactivity to his or her emotions. A majority of such research has focused on comparisons between Europe and North America ("West") and China and Japan ("East"). Broadly speaking, European American cultures value emotional expression, whereas East Asian cultures value emotional control. EEG studies across the two cultures found that both Asians and European Americans showed a strong LPP amplitude after viewing unpleasant pictures. When tasked with suppressing negative emotions, however, Asians showed significant reduction in LPP amplitude, while the same effect was much less pronounced in European Americans. These studies highlight the role of culture in emotional processing. Future directions might look into cultures beyond the traditional binary of "Western" and "Eastern" cultures.

Cultural neuroscience and emotional regulation

The somatosensory cortex has been implicated in emotional regulation.

Anatomy of Emotional Regulation

Testing emotional regulation involves assessing an individual's tendency or capacity to modulate their emotional responses. This evaluation is typically conducted using standardized self-report measures and behavioral questionnaires.

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