Intentional regulation of negative emotions is reflected in event-related brain potentials

Functional neuroimaging studies have demonstrated significant modulation of the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during emotion regulation. The late-positive potential (LPP) and P2-N2 complex of the stimulus evoked brain potential (ERP) appear to reflect similar processes as the amygdala and ACC, respectively. In the present study, we measured the LPP and P2-N2 to examine the effects of intentional emotion regulation on early neural correlates of emotional and cognitive processing. Seventeen participants performed a blocked emotion regulation task: in the first block all participants passively viewed unpleasant and neutral pictures; in the second and third blocks participants were instructed to either suppress or enhance their emotional response to unpleasant pictures. Results revealed significantly decreased LPP magnitudes during suppression and enhanced P2-N2 magnitudes during both suppression and enhancement of negative emotions. These data suggest that ERPs can be used to identify early neural responses underlying intentional emotion regulation.