T7. Habitual Use of Reappraisal and Psychophysiological Reactivity to Unpredictable Threat: An Event-Related Potential and Startle Eyeblink Study

Abstract

Cognitive reappraisal is an emotion regulation strategy that is associated with psychiatric health and wellbeing, whereas reduced use of this strategy and increased reliance on less effective strategies may characterize affective psychopathologies such as anxiety and depression. Prior work has shown that less habitual use of reappraisal is associated with increased amygdala and reduced prefrontal and parietal brain activity to negative stimuli (e.g., faces). Here, we inquired whether individuals who reported less everyday use of reappraisal would exhibit increased event-related potentials (ERPs) and fear-potentiated startle during unpredictable threat - a construct of particular relevance to anxiety.