We can try to change our emotions by changing our thoughts, but sometimes this is not successful. This CAREER project tests the innovative prediction that certain thoughts engage neural processes to improve our ability to regulate emotions under certain conditions. The researcher, Dr. Kateri McRae, at the University of Denver, will examine whether what a person is doing and what parts of their brain are most active, just before changing their thinking, will matter. When a task uses cognitive processes that overlap with brain regions used during emotion regulation, then the regulation that follows will be easier and more effective. The educational portion of the CAREER projects has two parts. First, undergraduate students will partner with community members to develop multimedia resources about emotions and emotion regulation that will be available via the internet. Second, outreach to the community and underrepresented students will focus on teaching them about making valid conclusions from psychological science, and learning what neuroscience measures in particular can tell us. The potential benefits of this project include discovering the conditions that allow people to manage their emotions. Benefits also include educating a large community about emotion regulation, neuroscience, and the scientific method.
The central hypothesis of this CAREER proposal is that overlapping cognitive and neural processes pave a path for emotion regulation by enhancing cognitive reappraisal. Central to this hypothesis is that rather than being passive victims of their emotions, people have tools they can use to influence their emotions. This project tests the hypothesis that three cognitive processes facilitate subsequent emotion regulation. The first process involves our brains' tendency to resolve conflict quickly and efficiently. This project examines the effects of cognitive processes involved in emotional conflict resolution. The second process is decreasing self-focus and thus emotional responses. The third process involves top-down emotion generation, such as that generated via language or rich narratives. Validated experimental manipulations are used with multiple measures of affect across six laboratory experiments. Each of the three candidate processes will be manipulated in their own study. Psychophysiological measures (e.g., electrodermal activity, heart rate, respiration) and self-reports will be used, and their effects on cognitive reappraisal examined. Three fMRI neuroimaging studies (one per process) will test the hypothesis that overlapping neural processes characterize effective precursors of cognitive reappraisal. Lastly, a large-scale neuroimaging analysis will collapse across the three fMRI studies to identify brain regions that are common to successful cognitive reappraisal across contexts. The educational dissemination plan includes having undergraduate students work with community members to develop multimedia presentations, and discussing neuroscience research methods focusing on valid and accurate conclusions. The implications include a better understanding of processes that lead to efficient emotion regulation, thereby enhancing personal well-being and productivity. The implications also include facilitating better understanding of psychological science across a variety of populations.
