Neuropredictive Models of Acceptance, Reappraisal, and Suppression Strategies: s/fMRI and EEG Evidence

Emotion regulation is a core construct of mental health, and deficits in emotion regulation abilities can lead to psychological disorders. This thesis investigates neural underpinnings of three core emotion regulation strategies—acceptance, reappraisal, and suppression. Acceptance and reappraisal are considered as adaptive strategies that contribute positively to mental health, whereas suppression is considered as a maladaptive strategy associated with adverse psychological outcomes. Through a series of studies using task-based and resting-state fMRI, sMRI, advanced machine learning techniques, and ERP analysis, this thesis proàvides deeper understanding of the distinct and shared neural mechanisms that underlie these strategies. The meta-analytic study at the heart of this thesis reveals increased neural activity in the left-inferior frontal gyrus and the insula across both reappraisal and acceptance strategies, highlighting the complexity of their neural bases. Further, it identifies specific neural activations unique to each strategy, with reappraisal showing increased activity in cognitive control regions and acceptance associated with areas involved in sensory integration and emotional evaluation. Subsequent studies build on these findings, exploring the predictive power of structural brain characteristics and psychological factors on strategy use, and the show the role of the insula across all strategies. Study 5 extends the investigation to the realm of linguistic stimuli, using ERP analysis to explore the temporal dynamics of how neutral, taboo, and negative words are classified and processed under conditions of acceptance and no regulation. This novel approach highlights the unique processing of taboo words, suggesting a complex interplay between emotional valence and social-contextual significance.This thesis contributes significantly to the field of emotion regulation by providing a comprehensive view of the neural and psychological processes underlying acceptance, reappraisal, and suppression. It reveals the importance of integrating psychological factors into models of emotion regulation, offering insights into individual differences in strategy use. The findings have important implications for psychotherapeutic practices, suggesting pathways for enhancing emotional wellbeing through targeted interventions.