Emotion regulation flexibility: EEG/EMG predictors and consequences of switching between reappraisal and distraction strategies.

Flexible use of emotion regulation (ER) strategies is central to mental health. To advance our understanding of what drives adaptive strategy-switching decisions, in this preregistered study, we used event-related potentials (late positive potential, LPP and stimulus preceding negativity, SPN) and facial electromyography (EMG corrugator activity) to test the antecedents and consequences of switching to an alternative ER strategy. Participants (N = 63, Mage = 24.8 years, all female) passively watched and then implemented an instructed ER strategy (reappraisal or distraction) in response to high-intensity negative pictures that were either easy or difficult to reinterpret (high or low reappraisal affordance, respectively). Next, they decided to "switch from" or "maintain" the instructed strategy and subsequently implemented the chosen strategy. Reappraisal affordance manipulations successfully induced switching. Regarding antecedents, switching was predicted by the reduced ER efficacy of the current strategy (corrugator, but not LPP). Switching to distraction was additionally predicted by increased responses to the stimulus during passive viewing (corrugator and LPP) and increased anticipatory effort in implementing reappraisal (SPN). Concerning consequences, switching to distraction improved, whereas switching to reappraisal impaired post-choice ER effects (LPP). However, starting with reappraisal was overall more effective than starting with distraction, irrespective of the subsequent decision (corrugator). Our results suggest that switching between ER strategies occurs in accordance with situational demands (stimulus affordances) and is predicted by reduced peripheral physiological ER efficacy. However, only switching to distraction leads to improved regulatory effects. These insights provide neurocognitively grounded starting points for developing interventions targeting ER flexibility.

Developmental shift in testosterone influence on prefrontal emotion control.

A paradox of testosterone effects is seen in adolescents versus adults in social emotional approach-avoidance behavior. During adolescence, high testosterone levels are associated with increased anterior prefrontal (aPFC) involvement in emotion control, whereas during adulthood this neuro-endocrine relation is reversed. Rodent work shows that, during puberty, testosterone transitions from a neuro-developmental to a social-sexual activating hormone. In this study, we explored whether this functional transition is also present in human adolescents and young adults. Using a prospective longitudinal design, we investigated the role of testosterone on neural control of social emotional behavior during the transitions from middle to late adolescence and into young adulthood. Seventy-one individuals (tested at ages 14, 17, and 20 years) performed an fMRI-adapted approach-avoidance (AA) task involving automatic and controlled actions in response to social emotional stimuli. In line with predictions from animal models, the effect of testosterone on aPFC engagement decreased between middle and late adolescence, and shifted into an activational role by young adulthood-impeding neural control of emotions. This change in testosterone function was accompanied by increased testosterone-modulated amygdala reactivity. These findings qualify the testosterone-dependent maturation of the prefrontal-amygdala circuit supporting emotion control during the transition from middle adolescence into young adulthood.

Tackling Costly Fearful Avoidance Using Pavlovian Counterconditioning.

Avoidance behavior constitutes a major transdiagnostic symptom that exacerbates anxiety. It hampers fear extinction and predicts poor therapy-outcome. Pavlovian counterconditioning with a reward could alleviate avoidance better than traditional extinction by reducing negative valence of the feared situation. However, previous studies are scarce and did not consider that pathological avoidance is often costly and typically evolves from an approach-avoidance conflict. Therefore, we used an approach-avoidance conflict paradigm to model effects of counterconditioning on costly avoidance (i.e., avoidance that leads to missing out on rewards). Results from our preregistered Bayesian Mixed Model analyses in 51 healthy participants (43 females) indicated that counterconditioning was more effective in reducing negative valuation and decreasing costly avoidance than traditional extinction. This study supports application of a simple counterconditioning technique, shows that its efficacy transfers to more complex avoidance situations, and suggests treatment may benefit from increasing reward drive in combination with extinction to overcome avoidance. Application in a clinical sample is a necessary next step to assess clinical utility of counterconditioning.

The neurocomputational link between defensive cardiac states and approach-avoidance arbitration under threat.

Avoidance, a hallmark of anxiety-related psychopathology, often comes at a cost; avoiding threat may forgo the possibility of a reward. Theories predict that optimal approach-avoidance arbitration depends on threat-induced psychophysiological states, like freezing-related bradycardia. Here we used model-based fMRI analyses to investigate whether and how bradycardia states are linked to the neurocomputational underpinnings of approach-avoidance arbitration under varying reward and threat magnitudes. We show that bradycardia states are associated with increased threat-induced avoidance and more pronounced reward-threat value comparison (i.e., a stronger tendency to approach vs. avoid when expected reward outweighs threat). An amygdala-striatal-prefrontal circuit supports approach-avoidance arbitration under threat, with specific involvement of the amygdala and dorsal anterior cingulate (dACC) in integrating reward-threat value and bradycardia states. These findings highlight the role of human freezing states in value-based decision making, relevant for optimal threat coping. They point to a specific role for amygdala/dACC in state-value integration under threat.

Integrating stereotypes and factual evidence in interpersonal communication.

Stereotypes can exert a powerful influence on our interactions with others, potentially leading to prejudice when factual evidence is ignored. Here, we identify neuroanatomical and developmental factors that influence the real-time integration of stereotypes and factual evidence during live social interactions. The study uses precisely quantified communicative exchanges in a longitudinal cohort of seventeen-year-olds followed since infancy, testing their ability to moderate stereotype tendencies toward children as contrary evidence accumulates. Our results indicate that the impact of stereotypes on communicative behavior is linked to individual variations in gray matter density and cortical thickness in the right anterior cingulate gyrus. In contrast, the ability to moderate stereotype tendencies is influenced by developmental exposure to social interactions during the initial years of life, beyond the effects of familial environment and later experiences. These findings pinpoint a key brain structure underlying stereotype tendencies and suggest that early-life social experiences have lasting consequences on how individuals integrate factual evidence in interpersonal communication.

Vulnerabilities in social anxiety: Integrating intra- and interpersonal perspectives.

What are the major vulnerabilities in people with social anxiety? What are the most promising directions for translational research pertaining to this condition? The present paper provides an integrative summary of basic and applied translational research on social anxiety, emphasizing vulnerability factors. It is divided into two subsections: intrapersonal and interpersonal. The intrapersonal section synthesizes research relating to (a) self-representations and self-referential processes; (b) emotions and their regulation; and (c) cognitive biases: attention, interpretation and judgment, and memory. The interpersonal section summarizes findings regarding the systems of (a) approach and avoidance, (b) affiliation and social rank, and their implications for interpersonal impairments. Our review suggests that the science of social anxiety and, more generally, psychopathology may be advanced by examining processes and their underlying content within broad psychological systems. Increased interaction between basic and applied researchers to diversify and elaborate different perspectives on social anxiety is necessary for progress.