Dedifferentiation of Emotion Regulation Strategies in the Aging Brain

Overview

Journal Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci

Specialties Neurology
Social Sciences

Date 2014 Nov 9

PMID 25380765

Citations 11

Authors

Bruna Martins

Allison Ponzio

Ricardo Velasco

Jonas Kaplan

Mara Mather

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Different emotion regulation strategies are distinctly represented in the brains of younger adults. Decreasing a reaction to a negative situation by reinterpreting it (reappraisal) relies on cognitive control regions in the prefrontal cortex, while distracting away from a stressor involves more posterior medial structures. In this study, we used Multi-Voxel pattern analyses (MVPA) to examine whether reappraisal and distraction strategies have distinct representations in the older adult brain, or whether emotion regulation strategies become more dedifferentiated in later life. MVPA better differentiated the two emotion regulation strategies for younger adults than for older adults, and revealed the greatest age-related differences in differentiation in the posterior medial cortex (PMC). Univariate analyses revealed equal PMC recruitment across strategies for older adults, but greater activity during distraction than reappraisal for younger adults. The PMC is central to self-focused processing, and thus our findings are consistent with the possibility that focusing on the self may be a default mechanism across emotion regulation strategies for older people.

Citing Articles

Valence Effects on Episodic Memory in Young and Old Adults Following Exposure to Emotional Stimuli.

Constantinou M, Yankouskaya A, Burianova H Eur J Neurosci. 2025; 61(5):e70041.

PMID: 40029336 PMC: 11875107. DOI: 10.1111/ejn.70041.

Brain activity associated with emotion regulation predicts individual differences in working memory ability.

Horner S, Lulla R, Wu H, Shaktivel S, Vaccaro A, Herschel E Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2024; 25(2):329-343.

PMID: 39379769 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-024-01232-6.

Age differences in the influence of self-esteem and emotional regulation on memory.

Doron Y, Anaki D Front Psychol. 2024; 15:1346693.

PMID: 39301006 PMC: 11410706. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1346693.

Resting heart rate variability is associated with neural adaptation when repeatedly exposed to emotional stimuli.

Min J, Koenig J, Nashiro K, Yoo H, Cho C, Thayer J Neuropsychologia. 2024; 196:108819.

PMID: 38360391 PMC: 11293881. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2024.108819.

Remembering past challenges to feel better today: Role of neural dedifferentiation and autobiographical integration in late-life reappraisal.

Martins-Klein B, Orlovsky I, Heideman K Neuropsychol Dev Cogn B Aging Neuropsychol Cogn. 2022; 29(3):599-619.

PMID: 35225156 PMC: 9879066. DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2022.2044011.

References

Reuter-Lorenz P, Jonides J, Smith E, Hartley A, Miller A, Marshuetz C . Age differences in the frontal lateralization of verbal and spatial working memory revealed by PET. J Cogn Neurosci. 2000; 12(1):174-87. DOI: 10.1162/089892900561814. View

LeDoux J . Emotion circuits in the brain. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2000; 23:155-84. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.neuro.23.1.155. View

Gusnard D, Akbudak E, Shulman G, Raichle M . Medial prefrontal cortex and self-referential mental activity: relation to a default mode of brain function. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001; 98(7):4259-64. PMC: 31213. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.071043098. View

Woolrich M, Ripley B, Brady M, Smith S . Temporal autocorrelation in univariate linear modeling of FMRI data. Neuroimage. 2001; 14(6):1370-86. DOI: 10.1006/nimg.2001.0931. View

Nichols T, Holmes A . Nonparametric permutation tests for functional neuroimaging: a primer with examples. Hum Brain Mapp. 2001; 15(1):1-25. PMC: 6871862. DOI: 10.1002/hbm.1058. View

Gitelman D . ILAB: a program for postexperimental eye movement analysis. Behav Res Methods Instrum Comput. 2003; 34(4):605-12. DOI: 10.3758/bf03195488. View

Gross J, John O . Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2003; 85(2):348-62. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348. View

Lustig C, Snyder A, Bhakta M, OBrien K, McAvoy M, Raichle M . Functional deactivations: change with age and dementia of the Alzheimer type. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003; 100(24):14504-9. PMC: 283621. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2235925100. View

Park D, Polk T, Park R, Minear M, Savage A, Smith M . Aging reduces neural specialization in ventral visual cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004; 101(35):13091-5. PMC: 516469. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0405148101. View

10.

Ochsner K, Ray R, Cooper J, Robertson E, Chopra S, Gabrieli J . For better or for worse: neural systems supporting the cognitive down- and up-regulation of negative emotion. Neuroimage. 2004; 23(2):483-99. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.06.030. View

11.

Whalen P, Kagan J, Cook R, Caroline Davis F, Kim H, Polis S . Human amygdala responsivity to masked fearful eye whites. Science. 2004; 306(5704):2061. DOI: 10.1126/science.1103617. View

12.

Raz N, Lindenberger U, Rodrigue K, Kennedy K, Head D, Williamson A . Regional brain changes in aging healthy adults: general trends, individual differences and modifiers. Cereb Cortex. 2005; 15(11):1676-89. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhi044. View

13.

Fox M, Snyder A, Vincent J, Corbetta M, Van Essen D, Raichle M . The human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anticorrelated functional networks. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005; 102(27):9673-8. PMC: 1157105. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0504136102. View

14.

Phelps E . Emotion and cognition: insights from studies of the human amygdala. Annu Rev Psychol. 2005; 57:27-53. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.56.091103.070234. View

15.

Grady C, Springer M, Hongwanishkul D, McIntosh A, Winocur G . Age-related changes in brain activity across the adult lifespan. J Cogn Neurosci. 2006; 18(2):227-41. DOI: 10.1162/089892906775783705. View

16.

Kriegeskorte N, Goebel R, Bandettini P . Information-based functional brain mapping. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006; 103(10):3863-8. PMC: 1383651. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0600244103. View

17.

Urry H, van Reekum C, Johnstone T, Kalin N, Thurow M, Schaefer H . Amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex are inversely coupled during regulation of negative affect and predict the diurnal pattern of cortisol secretion among older adults. J Neurosci. 2006; 26(16):4415-25. PMC: 6673990. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3215-05.2006. View

18.

Svoboda E, McKinnon M, Levine B . The functional neuroanatomy of autobiographical memory: a meta-analysis. Neuropsychologia. 2006; 44(12):2189-208. PMC: 1995661. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.05.023. View

19.

Norman K, Polyn S, Detre G, Haxby J . Beyond mind-reading: multi-voxel pattern analysis of fMRI data. Trends Cogn Sci. 2006; 10(9):424-30. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2006.07.005. View

20.

van Reekum C, Johnstone T, Urry H, Thurow M, Schaefer H, Alexander A . Gaze fixations predict brain activation during the voluntary regulation of picture-induced negative affect. Neuroimage. 2007; 36(3):1041-55. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.03.052. View