Principal Investigator: dr hab. Mirosław Wyczesany, prof. UJ

Reappraisal is an emotion regulation strategy used to decrease the intensity of affective responses by conceptually reinterpreting the meaning of arousing stimuli. It results with decrease of negative feelings, and activations in brain regions related to emotional arousal. Successful reappraisal requires significant cognitive involvement to elaborate and reinterpret affective material. Current theories point at a cognitive change as a basic cause of attenuation of emotional responses.  Although the effects of reappraisal are relatively well described, the detailed neural mechanisms underlying this strategy remains largely unknown. The involvement of the prefrontal cortex is well confirmed, however our knowledge on the remaining network of involved structures and the role of specific cognitive processes underlying downregulation is only basic. Since many forms of cognitive activity can, in an unspecific manner, decrease the intensity of affective reactions, it is possible, that the demanding elaboration of the emotional content may serve as sufficient factor underlying affective downregulation observed during reappraisal. Hence, conclusions drawn from numerous reappraisal studies may be biased by the fact that no proper control conditions were provided.  In the project we intend to investigate detailed neural mechanisms responsible for downregulation of emotions, in order to determine specific neural markers of cognitive change – the core process for reappraisal. To obtain this, we will trace the spatiotemporal patterns of brain activations which propagate from the earliest stages of affective perception. Moreover, the patterns of connectivity between visual, attentional, emotional and executive brain regions will also be estimated. These markers of ongoing cognitive processes will be compared between reappraisal and other cognitive activity, similar in regard to the effort put in elaboration of the emotional content, but not involving the cognitive change itself. We hypothesize, that both reappraisal and non-reappraisal cognitive activity will be sufficient decrease emotional responses comparing to the passive watching conditions. This will be visible at very early stages of emotional processing, in activation of sensory and attentional areas. We also expect that later phases of emotional control will show the highest effectiveness for reappraisal, especially in the regions responsible for emotional appraisal (orbitofrontal cortex). We also expect specific involvement of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in reappraisal, which will be visible by specifically increased top-down feedback towards attentional networks. We also plan to validate the claim on right-sided specialization of the dorsolateral prefrontal in voluntary strategies of emotional control. Two procedures are planned, both involving two groups with a cognitive task related to elaboration of pictorial content (reappraisal and non-reappraisal), and additional control group (passive watching). The first experiment will use magnetoencephalography (MEG) measurement which allows for accurate and dynamic reconstruction of brain sources using L2-Minimum-Norm-Estimates. The timing and propagation of source activations will be compared between groups. The second experiment will use TMS, a transcranial inhibition of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex together with EEG recording to investigate effects of disturbed effectiveness of emotional control on specific attentional and perceptual processes. Between-groups effects of connectivity patterns quantified by the Directed Transfer Function and evoked potentials will be analysed. Our project is expected to bring deeper understanding of emotional control phenomena. As a result, it will propose a revised theory regarding the mechanisms of reappraisal. It is especially relevant, as the current view on this phenomenon is being challenged by recent experimental data, showing importance of cognitive factors other than reinterpretation itself. This issue remains important in a societal scale, as reappraisal, is one of the most adaptive strategy that helps coping with everyday's life challenges. Recognizing its detailed neural mechanism and specific processes underlying efficient control of emotions has also important therapeutic implications.