Cognitive reappraisal, in which an individual alters the emotional meaning of a stimulus, is an effective emotion regulation strategy that can decrease an individual’s experience of negative emotion. This study sought to use the late positive potential (LPP), an event-related potential (ERP) component that has been shown to measure neural activity during emotional processing and regulation, to evaluate the effectiveness of different reappraisal strategies. The study’s aims were to compare self-generated reappraisal strategies, in which subjects were required to generate their own reappraisals, and externally provided reappraisals, in which descriptions that were negative or neutral were provided before viewing the image. Moreover, we looked at the sustained effects of these strategies on behavioral and brain measures of negative affect. Thirty-eight participants were shown images containing negative content while EEG data was recorded. Results revealed regulation effects on several early LPP components, with both types of reappraisals affecting amplitude for these peaks differently. Also, externally provided reappraisals led to larger passive task effects than self-generated reappraisal cues. Subjective responses showed a similar prolonged reduction in negative affect for both tasks despite pronounced differences in EEG activity. Externally provided reappraisals are more effective than self-generated ones, altering peak amplitudes and reducing the impact of negative images during passive viewing where these effects are not as distinct during the emotion regulation task. These findings have therapeutic implications, favoring guided regulation methods over self-reappraisal for sustained reappraisal effects.

Pediatric cancer patients and survivors frequently report posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), which are associated with variation in stress-sensitive brain regions, including the hippocampus. We examined the impact of a novel, four-week martial-arts-based meditative intervention on cancer-related PTSS in pediatric patients and survivors, and whether hippocampal volumes at baseline correlate with PTSS severity and/or changes in PTSS over time. PTSS did not significantly change from baseline to post-intervention. However, smaller hippocampal volume was correlated with more severe re-experiencing PTSS at baseline, and greater reductions in PTSS post intervention. Together, hippocampal volume may be a biomarker of PTSS severity and intervention response.

Background: Mounting evidence demonstrates that meditation can lower pain and emotional distress in adults, and more recently, in children. Meditation may be an effective form of emotion regulation in children because it is easily accessible and more easily done across a variety of settings in which toys may not be available, for e.g., settings requiring a “clean” environment (e.g., surgical prep). Further, neuroimaging studies in adults suggest that meditation techniques are neurobiologically distinct from other forms of emotion regulation, such as distraction, that rely on prefrontal control mechanisms, which are underdeveloped in youth. Rather, meditation techniques may not rely on “top-down” prefrontal control and may therefore be utilized across the lifespan. Procedure: We examined neural activation in children with cancer, who experience significant distress. During neuroimaging, children viewed distress-inducing video clips while using martial arts-based meditation (focused attention, mindful acceptance) or non-meditation (distraction) emotion regulation techniques. In a third condition (control), participants passively viewed the video clip. Results: We found that meditation techniques were associated with lower activation in default mode network (DMN) regions, including the medial frontal cortex, precuneus, and posterior cingulate cortex, compared to the control condition. Additionally, we found evidence that meditation techniques may be more effective for modulating DMN activity than distraction. There were no differences in self-reported distress ratings between conditions. Conclusion: Together, these findings suggest that martial arts-based meditation modulates negative self-referential processing associated with the DMN, and may have implications for the management of pediatric pain and negative emotion.