Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, 610066, China.
School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China.
Neurosci Bull. 2023 Aug;39(8):1278-1288. doi: 10.1007/s12264-023-01036-7. Epub 2023 Mar 6.
Evidence suggests that explicit reappraisal has limited regulatory effects on high-intensity emotions, mainly due to the depletion of cognitive resources occupied by the high-intensity emotional stimulus itself. The implicit form of reappraisal has proved to be resource-saving and therefore might be an ideal strategy to achieve the desired regulatory effect in high-intensity situations. In this study, we explored the regulatory effect of explicit and implicit reappraisal when participants encountered low- and high-intensity negative images. The subjective emotional rating indicated that both explicit and implicit reappraisal down-regulated negative experiences, irrespective of intensity. However, the amplitude of the parietal late positive potential (LPP; a neural index of experienced emotional intensity) showed that only implicit reappraisal had significant regulatory effects in the high-intensity context, though both explicit and implicit reappraisal successfully reduced the emotional neural responses elicited by low-intensity negative images. Meanwhile, implicit reappraisal led to a smaller frontal LPP amplitude (an index of cognitive cost) compared to explicit reappraisal, indicating that the implementation of implicit reappraisal consumes limited cognitive control resources. Furthermore, we found a prolonged effect of implicit emotion regulation introduced by training procedures. Taken together, these findings not only reveal that implicit reappraisal is suitable to relieve high-intensity negative experiences as well as neural responses, but also highlight the potential benefit of trained implicit regulation in clinical populations whose frontal control resources are limited.
证据表明，由于高强度情绪刺激本身占据了认知资源，明确的情绪重评对高强度情绪的调节作用有限。而内隐情绪重评被证明是一种节省资源的方式，因此可能是在高强度情境下实现期望调节效果的理想策略。在这项研究中，我们探讨了在参与者遇到低强度和高强度负性图像时，明确和内隐情绪重评的调节作用。主观情绪评分表明，明确和内隐情绪重评都能降低负性体验，而不管强度如何。然而，顶叶晚正电位（LPP；体验情绪强度的神经指标）的振幅表明，只有内隐情绪重评在高强度情境下具有显著的调节作用，尽管明确和内隐情绪重评都成功地降低了低强度负性图像引起的情绪神经反应。同时，内隐情绪重评导致的额部 LPP 振幅（认知成本的指标）小于明确情绪重评，表明内隐情绪重评消耗的认知控制资源有限。此外，我们发现训练程序引入了内隐情绪调节的延长效应。综上所述，这些发现不仅表明内隐情绪重评适合缓解高强度负性体验和神经反应，还强调了针对认知控制资源有限的临床人群进行内隐调节训练的潜在益处。
