Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Box 90999, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2011 Apr;6(2):165-76. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsq030. Epub 2010 Apr 12.
Older adults, compared to younger adults, focus on emotional well-being. While the lifespan trajectory of emotional processing and its regulation has been characterized behaviorally, few studies have investigated the underlying neural mechanisms. Here, older adults (range: 59-73 years) and younger adults (range: 19-33 years) participated in a cognitive reappraisal task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning. On each trial, participants viewed positive, negative or neutral pictures and either naturally experienced the image ('Experience' condition) or attempted to detach themselves from the image ('Reappraise' condition). Across both age groups, cognitive reappraisal activated prefrontal regions similar to those reported in prior studies of emotion regulation, while emotional experience activated the bilateral amygdala. Psychophysiological interaction analyses revealed that the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and amygdala demonstrated greater inverse connectivity during the 'Reappraise' condition relative to the 'Experience' condition. The only regions exhibiting significant age differences were the left IFG and the left superior temporal gyrus, for which greater regulation-related activation was observed in younger adults. Controlling for age, increased performance on measures of cognition predicted greater regulation-related decreases in amygdala activation. Thus, while older and younger adults use similar brain structures for emotion regulation and experience, the functional efficacy of those structures depends on underlying cognitive ability.
老年人比年轻人更关注情绪健康。虽然情绪处理及其调节的寿命轨迹已经在行为上得到了描述，但很少有研究调查其潜在的神经机制。在这里，老年人（年龄范围：59-73 岁）和年轻人（年龄范围：19-33 岁）在功能磁共振成像（fMRI）扫描期间参与了认知重评任务。在每次试验中，参与者观看积极、消极或中性的图片，并自然体验图片（“体验”条件）或试图与图片分离（“重评”条件）。在两个年龄组中，认知重评都激活了与之前情绪调节研究中报告的相似的前额叶区域，而情绪体验则激活了双侧杏仁核。心理生理交互分析表明，在“重评”条件下，左侧额下回（IFG）和杏仁核的反向连接性大于“体验”条件。唯一表现出显著年龄差异的区域是左侧 IFG 和左侧颞上回，年轻人的调节相关激活更大。控制年龄后，认知测量上的表现提高预测了杏仁核激活的调节相关降低。因此，尽管老年人和年轻人使用相似的大脑结构进行情绪调节和体验，但这些结构的功能效果取决于潜在的认知能力。
