Emotion regulation and the late positive potential (LPP) in older adults

Higher cortical excitability to negative emotions involved in musculoskeletal pain in Parkinson's disease

OBJECTIVE

Changes in brain structure and neurotransmitter systems are involved in pain in Parkinson's disease (PD), and emotional factors are closely related to pain. Our study applied electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate the role of emotion in PD patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.

METHODS

Forty-two PD patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain and 38 without were enrolled. EEG data were recorded under resting conditions, and while viewing pictures with neutral, positive, and negative content. We compared spectrum power, functional connectivity, and late positive potential (LPP), an event-related potential (ERP), between the groups.

RESULTS

PD patients with pain tended to have higher scores for the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD). In the resting EEG, mean β-band amplitude was significantly higher in patients with pain than in those without. Logistic regression analysis showed that higher HRSD scores and higher mean β-band amplitude were associated with pain. ERP analysis revealed that the amplitudes of LPP difference waves (the absolute difference between positive and negative condition LPP and neutral condition LPP) at the central-parietal region were significantly reduced in patients with pain (P = 0.029). Spearman correlation analysis showed that the amplitudes of late (700-1000 ms) negative versus neutral condition LPP difference waves were negatively correlated with pain intensity, assessed by visual analogue scale, (r = -0.393, P = 0.010) and HRSD scores (r = -0.366, P = 0.017).

CONCLUSION

Dopaminergic and non-dopaminergic systems may be involved in musculoskeletal pain in PD by increasing β-band activity and weakening the connection of the θ-band at the central-parietal region. PD patients with musculoskeletal pain have higher cortical excitability to negative emotions. The changes in pain-related EEG may be used as electrophysiological markers and therapeutic targets in PD patients with chronic pain.

Successful emotion regulation via cognitive reappraisal in authentic pride: Behavioral and event-related potential evidence

The present study explored whether authentic pride (AP) and hubristic pride (HP) were differently associated with cognitive reappraisal strategy. In study 1, undergraduates (n = 235) completed a battery of self-report questionnaires, including the Authentic and Hubristic Pride-Proneness Scale (AHPPS), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and emotion regulation questionnaire (ERP-R). The results showed that AP significantly predicted successful down-regulation of negative emotions via a spontaneous cognitive reappraisal strategy. However, hubristic pride (HP) was negatively associated with spontaneous cognitive reappraisal. In study 2, participants with trait AP (n = 31) and trait HP (n = 29) undergoing continuous electroencephalogram (EEG) recording were required to reinterpret emotional pictures to down-regulate/up-regulate their negative/positive emotional reactions. The results showed that individuals with AP reported lower levels of emotional arousal and lower amplitudes of late positive potentials (LPPs) than did individuals with HP in response to negative pictures during the down-regulation of negative emotions, but not during passive viewing or up-regulation of positive emotions. Across two studies, these findings showed that individuals with AP could utilize the cognitive reappraisal strategy (spontaneously in daily life and under experimental instructions) to down-regulate negative emotions more successfully relative to individuals with HP.