Markers of emotion regulation processes: A neuroimaging and behavioral study of reappraising abilities

Emotion regulation (ER) is a core element for individual well-being, and dysregulated emotional states are prominent in several mental disorders. Moreover, dispositional use of adaptive ER strategies, such as cognitive reappraisal, is usually associated to better psychological outcomes and less emotional problems. Thus, identifying markers of emotion dysregulation could serve as a key point for developing treatments against risks of psychopathological outcomes. Neuroimaging techniques could represent a useful tool within these aims, focusing on neurobiological markers of psychopathological illness. Given the well known gender differences in using ER strategies, we examined behavioral and neuroimaging patterns associated with dispositional use of reappraisal among a non-clinical female sample. We found that the individual predisposition to use cognitive reappraisal as an emotion regulation strategy was associated with decreased levels of dysregulation. From a neurobiological perspective, difficulties in using reappraisal were associated with decreased resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) between the Middle Temporal Gyrus and occipito-parietal regions. Moreover, rs-FC between prefrontal and occipito-parietal brain regions was negatively associated with emotion dysregulation levels. Microstructural anomalies across white matter tracts connecting temporal, parietal, and occipital brain regions were associated to difficulties in using reappraisal. Our findings suggest that specific behavioral and neurobiological substrates are linked to reappraising abilities. Furthermore, the ability to implement adaptive ER strategies could serve as protective factor against developing emotion dysregulation.