Common and distinct neural bases of multiple positive emotion regulation strategies: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Abstract

Appropriate emotion regulation is crucially involved in mental and physical health. The neural basis of negative but not positive emotion regulation has been well investigated. Several strategies should be compared to elucidate the neural correlates of positive emotion regulation. However, there are no studies on multiple positive emotion regulation strategies. We aimed to investigate the neural correlates of positive emotion regulation with multiple emotion regulation strategies and identify common and differential brain areas involved in positive emotion upregulation. We acquired functional magnetic resonance imaging data from healthy college student volunteers while they upregulated positive emotions through instructed strategies or by viewing positive pictures. The instructed strategies included Attentional Deployment, Cognitive Change, and Response Modulation. These strategies increased subjective positive emotions and activation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Region of interest analysis revealed greater activation of the ventral striatum during positive emotion regulation. There are different networks involved in Cognitive Change and Response Modulation. Our findings indicate that multiple strategies for positive emotion upregulation involve common (e.g., PFC, ACC, and ventral striatum) and unique networks.