Department of Psychology, RutgersUniversity, 101Warren Street, Newark, NJ 07102, USA.
J Cogn Neurosci. 2011 Sep;23(9):2569-81. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2011.21618. Epub 2011 Jan 21.
Cognitive strategies typically involved in regulating negative emotions have recently been shown to also be effective with positive emotions associated with monetary rewards. However, it is less clear how these strategies influence behavior, such as preferences expressed during decision-making under risk, and the underlying neural circuitry. That is, can the effective use of emotion regulation strategies during presentation of a reward-conditioned stimulus influence decision-making under risk and neural structures involved in reward processing such as the striatum? To investigate this question, we asked participants to engage in imagery-focused regulation strategies during the presentation of a cue that preceded a financial decision-making phase. During the decision phase, participants then made a choice between a risky and a safe monetary lottery. Participants who successfully used cognitive regulation, as assessed by subjective ratings about perceived success and facility in implementation of strategies, made fewer risky choices in comparison with trials where decisions were made in the absence of cognitive regulation. Additionally, BOLD responses in the striatum were attenuated during decision-making as a function of successful emotion regulation. These findings suggest that exerting cognitive control over emotional responses can modulate neural responses associated with reward processing (e.g., striatum) and promote more goal-directed decision-making (e.g., less risky choices), illustrating the potential importance of cognitive strategies in curbing risk-seeking behaviors before they become maladaptive (e.g., substance abuse).
最近的研究表明，调节负性情绪的认知策略也可用于调节与金钱奖励相关的正性情绪。然而，这些策略如何影响行为，例如在风险决策下表达的偏好，以及涉及奖励处理的潜在神经回路，还不太清楚。也就是说，在呈现奖励条件刺激时有效地使用情绪调节策略是否会影响风险决策以及涉及奖励处理的神经结构，如纹状体？为了研究这个问题，我们要求参与者在一个线索呈现期间进行以意象为焦点的调节策略，该线索会先于金融决策阶段。在决策阶段，参与者在风险和安全的金钱彩票之间做出选择。通过对感知成功和策略实施便利性的主观评价来评估成功使用认知调节的参与者与在没有认知调节的情况下做出决策的试验相比，做出的风险选择更少。此外，随着成功的情绪调节，纹状体在决策期间的大脑活动（BOLD 响应）减弱。这些发现表明，对情绪反应施加认知控制可以调节与奖励处理（例如纹状体）相关的神经反应，并促进更有目标导向的决策（例如，风险较低的选择），这说明了在风险寻求行为变得适应不良（例如，药物滥用）之前使用认知策略的重要性。
