Cited by 1,879Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Functional imaging studies of emotion regulation: a synthetic review and evolving model of the cognitive control of emotion

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Ochsner, Kevin N., Silvers, Jennifer A., Buhle, Jason T.·2012·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Abstract

This paper reviews and synthesizes functional imaging research that over the past decade has begun to offer new insights into the brain mechanisms underlying emotion regulation. Toward that end, the first section of the paper outlines a model of the processes and neural systems involved in emotion generation and regulation. The second section surveys recent research supporting and elaborating the model, focusing primarily on studies of the most commonly investigated strategy, which is known as reappraisal. At its core, the model specifies how prefrontal and cingulate control systems modulate activity in perceptual, semantic, and affect systems as a function of one's regulatory goals, tactics, and the nature of the stimuli and emotions being regulated. This section also shows how the model can be generalized to understand the brain mechanisms underlying other emotion regulation strategies as well as a range of other allied phenomena. The third and last section considers directions for future research, including how basic models of emotion regulation can be translated to understand changes in emotion across the life span and in clinical disorders.

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Crossref · 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2012.06751.x

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  • Successful cognitive reappraisal in healthy individuals is accompanied by increased activation in prefrontal areas, which exert an inhibitory influence on limbic structures such as the bilateral amygdala and thus modulate excessive bottom-up emotional responses.

    “Neuroimaging studies in healthy individuals investigating neural activation patterns during emotion regulation have demonstrated that successful cognitive reappraisal is accompanied by increased activation in prefrontal areas, which exert an inhibitory influence on limbic structures such as the bilateral amygdala and thus modulate excessive bottom-up emotional responses (Kohn et al., 2014, Ochsner”

    From Rt-fMRI neurofeedback-guided cognitive reappraisal training modulates amygdala responsivity in posttraumatic stress disorder (2020) · cites this paper as Ochsner et al., 2012

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  • dlPFC is involved in general selective attention and working memory, while lOFC/vlPFC is important for selecting a goal-appropriate reappraisal.

    “It has been suggested that dlPFC is involved in general selective attention and working memory, while the lOFC/vlPFC seems to be important for selecting a goal-appropriate reappraisal (Ochsner et al., 2012).”

    From Top-Down Dysregulation—From ADHD to Emotional Instability (2016) · cites this paper as Ochsner et al., 2012

    In “Integrating new research on reappraisal” (page unavailable), the review links ventrolateral PFC to selecting alternative meanings during reinterpretation, supporting the reappraisal-selection part. In “Generalizability to other related phenomena” (page unavailable), it describes dlPFC as maintaining choice goals, but the passages found do not establish the claimed role in both general selective attention and working memory or specifically identify lOFC in selecting a goal-appropriate reappraisal. (LLM, conf=0.79)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The dmPFC is implicated in social cognition, mentalizing, monitoring emotional states, and emotion regulation.

    “The dmPFC, implicated in social cognition (Bzdok et al., 2013; Lieberman, Straccia, Meyer, Du, & Tan, 2019), mentalizing (Zaki & Ochsner, 2012), and monitoring one’s own and others’ emotional states (Ochsner et al., 2012), is thought to play a role in emotion regulation (Buhle et al., 2014; Ochsner & Gross, 2005).”
  • The present results align with neurobiological models in which prefrontal cortex down-regulates affective regions such as the amygdala.

    “The results are consistent with neurobiological models of prefrontal cortical down-regulation of affective regions such as the amygdala (Ochsner, Silvers, & Buhle, 2012).”
  • Neuroimaging studies of emotional reappraisal have shown that emotion regulation strategies can alter emotion-related neural activity.

    “Neuroimaging studies of emotional reappraisal have shown that emotion regulation strategies can alter emotion-related neural activity (Ochsner et al. 2012).”

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [81]Ochsner KN Cacioppo JT Social Neuroscience: People thinking about people 2005 245 268 MIT Press Cambridge, MA
  2. [193]Nashiro K Sakaki M Mather M Age differences in brain activity during emotion processing: reflections of age-related decline or increased emotion regulation? Gerontology 2012 58 156 63 21691052 PMC3388265

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Authors
Ochsner, K. N., Silvers, J. A., & Buhle, J. T.
Affiliations
Columbia University (US)
Corresponding author
Ochsner, Kevin N.
Venue
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2012-03
Volume
1251
Issue
1
Pages
E1-24
ISSN
  • 0077-8923 (ISSN-L)
  • 1749-6632
OpenAlex
W1921511099
Cited by
1,879
References
223
Citations by year
2026: 114 · 2025: 145 · 2024: 113 · 2023: 155 · 2022: 149 · 2021: 164 · 2020: 150 · 2019: 176 · 2018: 157 · 2017: 123 · 2016: 147 · 2015: 120 · 2014: 99 · 2013: 58 · 2012: 5
FWCI
7.13
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5r01ag043463-05)
  • National Institute on Aging (R01-AG043463, AG039279)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH076137, F31MH094056, MH076137)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA022541, DA-022541)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD069178)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
Keywords
emotion regulation, cognitive emotion regulation, cognitive reappraisal, prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, emotion generation, emotion regulation strategies
MeSH terms
Brain, Cognition, Emotions, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Models, Neurological, Neural Pathways

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