UCLA

Emotion regulation encompasses a range of processes that allow individuals to adaptively respond to emotional stimuli. In recent years, an expansive literature has emerged regarding the neural bases of these regulatory strategies. In this article, we provide an overview of the literature on emotion regulation and its corresponding neural mechanisms. We synthesize empirical research within the framework of the process model of emotion regulation, a model rooted in appraisal theory that organizes emotion and response generation into distinct antecedent-focused and response-focused stages. Within the process model framework, we identify unique regulatory strategies that target varying levels of the emotional event—situation selection, distraction, cognitive reappraisal, and expressive suppression—and review their respective neural circuitry. We conclude by outlining empirical questions that merit further examination and suggest directions for future research.