It is what it is: A comparative fMRI study on the regulation of negative emotions via distraction, reappraisal, and acceptance

While the neural correlates of emotion regulation (ER) have frequently been investigated, only a few studies have compared the neural correlates of several ER strategies against one another. We present the fMRI data from 42 female participants who, in a within-subject design, viewed negative images depicting human suffering as well as neutral landscapes. For the negative images only, participants applied the ER strategies of distraction, reappraisal, and acceptance. Emotion regulation compared with viewing negative stimuli showed activation in frontal and temporoparietal regions. Direct comparisons between strategies revealed increased engagement of prefrontal and cingulate networks during acceptance and reappraisal compared with distraction, while distraction showed stronger recruitment of occipital and parietal regions. Acceptance differed from reappraisal with greater activation in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and fusiform and lingual gyri. Our results indicate that distraction mostly relies on regions involved in visual perception and attention. Acceptance and reappraisal resemble one another in the recruitment of areas related to cognitive control. However, acceptance also shows activation in areas related to visual processing that is absent in reappraisal, possibly reflective of deeper engagement with the stimulus. These findings highlight both commonalities and differences among major ER strategies.