The neural mechanisms able to predict future emotion regulation decisions.

Emotion regulation is crucial in maintaining healthy psychological well-being, and its dysregulation is often linked to a range of neuropsychiatric disorders including depression. The neurobiological underpinnings of cognitive reappraisal, an emotion regulation strategy, have been shown to include the amygdala and regions of the prefrontal cortex. A novel study by Doré, Weber, and Ochsner (J Neurosci 37: 2580-2588, 2017) has demonstrated that neural activity in these regions during uninstructed visualization of affective stimuli can successfully predict which individuals are more likely to subsequently employ emotion regulation, and under what circumstances.