Department of Psychiatry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
VA Salt Lake, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2019 Feb;34(2):215-222. doi: 10.1002/gps.4982. Epub 2018 Sep 27.
The ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) has been speculated to play an important role in complex processes that allow emotional factors to influence human cognition. Accumulating evidence from human neuroimaging studies, in conjunction with studies of patients with lesions and animal models, shed light on the role of the vlPFC in emotion regulation (ER). This review aims to discuss and integrate recent findings related to vlPFC's role in ER in the context of aging, drawing from diverse sources, and suggest future directions for research utilizing transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).
METHODS/DESIGN: We summarize findings from the existing literature investigating the neural basis of frontal-lobe mediated ER and then highlight major findings from recent studies directly comparing healthy younger and older adult groups. We conclude by pointing to unaddressed questions worth pursuing in future research.
We propose future research directions utilizing TMS to answer key unaddressed questions. Moreover, we discuss the potential advantages, challenges, and limitations of using TMS as a complement to the existing neuroimaging methods in ER.
腹外侧前额叶皮层（vlPFC）被推测在允许情绪因素影响人类认知的复杂过程中发挥重要作用。越来越多的来自人类神经影像学研究的证据，结合对病变患者和动物模型的研究，揭示了 vlPFC 在情绪调节（ER）中的作用。本综述旨在讨论和整合与衰老背景下 vlPFC 在 ER 中的作用相关的最新发现，这些发现来自不同的来源，并提出了利用经颅磁刺激（TMS）进行研究的未来方向。
方法/设计：我们总结了现有研究中关于额叶介导的 ER 的神经基础的发现，然后重点介绍了最近直接比较健康年轻和老年成人组的主要发现。最后，我们指出了未来研究中值得探讨的未解决问题。
我们提出了利用 TMS 回答关键未解决问题的未来研究方向。此外，我们讨论了使用 TMS 作为对 ER 现有神经影像学方法的补充的潜在优势、挑战和局限性。
