The temporal dynamics of detached versus positive reappraisal: An ERP study

Abstract

Detached reappraisal and positive reappraisal are regarded as two distinct types of cognitive reappraisal strategy, and the former is considered more disengaging than the latter. The conceptual framework of emotion regulation choice posits that strategies involving disengagement operate earlier and more efficiently than engagement strategies. Here, we compare for the first time the temporal dynamics of detached and positive reappraisal during the regulation and re-exposure phases thereof by measuring event-related potentials. During the regulation phase, pictures were viewed or regulated using detached or positive reappraisal. During the re-exposure phase, the same pictures were viewed again. Results showed that during regulation, central-parietal late positive potentials (LPPs) were greatly attenuated under both strategy types, with the regulation effect of detached reappraisal occurring earlier than that of positive reappraisal and resulting in a stronger attenuation of LPP amplitudes. Upon re-exposure, detached reappraisal exerted enduring effects on self-reported arousal and the central-parietal LPP, whereas positive reappraisal had an enduring effect only on pleasantness. These findings demonstrate the differential effects of detached and positive reappraisal on valence, arousal, and neural responses, and underline the striking differences in the temporal dynamics of these reappraisal strategies.

More habitual physical activity is linked to the use of specific, more adaptive cognitive reappraisal strategies in dealing with stressful events

“…These results match previous findings that linked a higher shifting ability to more successful reappraisal efforts in terms of greater reductions of selfreported negative affect (Malooly et al, 2013). Moreover, studies found specific brain activation in frontal regions indicating cognitive effort during positive reinterpretation, which was absent during simple viewing of negative pictures (Moser, Hartwig, Moran, Jendrusina, & Kross, 2014) and during detached reappraisal (Qi et al, 2017). Further, Qi et al (2017) (Erickson, Hillman, & Kramer, 2015;Guiney & Machado, 2013;Hamer et al, 2018), more physically active individuals may prefer "higher quality" reappraisals as they can more easily implement them in stressful contexts due to more functional inhibition/shifting (e.g., Malooly et al, 2013;Rominger et al, 2018).…”

“…Consequently, the link between regular physical activity and domain-general cognitive control may also extend to domain-specific functions, as implicated in cognitive reappraisal (e.g., Rominger et al, 2018) and may thus mark a potential path through which physical activity exerts positive influence on stress regulation. Interestingly, positive reinterpretations of aversive situations may also more strongly depend on executive functions (e.g., Qi et al, 2017;Rominger et al, 2018), which suggests specific relationships of physical activity with this type of reappraisal. Given this ostensible relevance of cognitive reappraisal quality (i.e., content), the present study related physical activity to both the total quantity and the quality of cognitive reappraisal ideas in stress coping.…”

Seeing emotions, reading emotions: behavioral and ERPs evidence of the effect of strategy and of regulation for pictures and words.

“…Gan and colleagues [21] replicated the effect of reduction of emotion Emotion regulation and ERP enhanced LPP when participants applied reappraisal and observed an increase of N2 for the suppression strategy, possibly related to the control of facial expression. More recently, Qi et al, [22], used detached reappraisal (similar to what we indicate with the term distancing) to regulate unpleasant pictures and reported a modulation of LPP. However, these experiments mainly focused on the ER.…”

“…Understanding how we regulate linguistic stimuli is thus of fundamental importance in order to understand and possibly maximize how to regulate emotions. Moreover, previous studies rarely took into account both arousal and valence (see for an exception [15], and [22]). This is especially true for the case of words.…”

“…Larger LPP amplitudes are also correlated with increased arousal [54]. Several studies showed that the LPP can be modulated by reappraisal, showing larger deflections when up-regulating [23] and reduced deflections when down-regulating the emotional response [12,19,22,23,[55][56][57]. The neural generators of the LPP are thought to be the extrastriate visual system and emotion-related structures such as amygdala [58], and may reflect stronger functional connectivity between occipital cortex and frontal areas [59].…”