The neural bases of distraction and reappraisal

Abstract

Distraction and reappraisal are two commonly used forms of cognitive emotion regulation. Functional neuroimaging studies have shown that each one depends upon interactions between pFC, interpreted as implementing cognitive control, and limbic regions, interpreted as mediating emotional responses. However, no study has directly compared distraction with reappraisal, and it remains unclear whether they draw upon different neural mechanisms and have different emotional consequences. The present fMRI study compared distraction and reappraisal and found both similarities and differences between the two forms of emotion regulation. Both resulted in decreased negative affect, decreased activation in the amygdala, and increased activation in prefrontal and cingulate regions. Relative to distraction, reappraisal led to greater decreases in negative affect and to greater increases in a network of regions associated with processing affective meaning (medial prefrontal and anterior temporal cortices). Relative to reappraisal, distraction led to greater decreases in amygdala activation and to greater increases in activation in prefrontal and parietal regions. Taken together, these data suggest that distraction and reappraisal differentially engage neural systems involved in attentional deployment and cognitive reframing and have different emotional consequences.

Figures

Figure 1

Self-reported negative affect in response to pictures presented in four conditions. Means in all conditions significantly differ from one another (p

Figure 2

a. Voxels in the amygdala down-regulated by reappraisal (Look Negative > Reappraise; red), distraction (Look Negative > Distract; blue) and both reappraisal and distraction (conjunction; purple). The display threshold was p Distract contrast (bottom). Means (solid center line) for each time course were estimated robustly, and the SEM (transparent surround) was computed from the standard mean. The time course means and standard errors were then smoothed and interpolated using cubic spline to a 0.5-second resolution.

Figure 3

Whole-brain results from three contrasts. Orange: (Reappraise > Distract masked with Reappraise > Look Negative) Blue: (Distract > Reappraise masked with Distract > Look Negative) Purple: (Reappraise > Look Negative masked by Distract > Look Negative).

Figure 4

Whole-brain correlations with decreases due to negative affect during reappraisal (A and B) and distraction (C). Regions in blue represent the main effect (regulation > attend). Regions in orange show a significant correlation with decreases in self-reported negative affect during reappraisal (A and B) and during distraction (C).