James Gross - US grants

For decades, adult emotion regulatory processes have been discussed primarily in two diverse, largely unconnected literatures. One literature has been concerned with psychological health, emphasizing the positive role of the cognitive control of negative emotions in promoting psychological well-being (e.g., by reducing stress responses). The second literature has been concerned with physical health, and has focused on potential dangers of controlling negative emotions (e.g., increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease). When placed side by side, these two literatures seem to suggest that the regulation of emotions (particularly negative emotions) may be good for psychological health, but bad for physical health. Are psychological and physical well-being really at odds with one another? To answer this question, and to attempt to integrate these two literatures, an experimental study of two forms of emotion regulation is proposed. Using an explicit model of emotion and an empirically-validated emotion induction procedure, this study will test predictions concerning two theoretically-derived forms of emotion regulation (intellectualization and suppression). A multi-method approach will be employed to assess the effects of these manipulations, including measurements of behavior (coded from videotapes), physiology (measured continuously throughout the sessions), and subjective experience (reported by subjects). This study is motivated by the contradictory findings concerning emotion regulation, and the importance of emotion regulatory processes to a variety of mental (e.g., anxiety, depression, substance abuse) and physical (e.g., cardiovascular disease) health outcomes. By testing the proposition that "shutting down an emotion at the front end (intellectualization) may have very different consequences from "shutting down" an emotion that has already generated powerful response tendencies (suppression), this study will clarify the role of emotion regulation in psychological and physical health outcomes. This study also will address longstanding questions in emotion research (e.g., the role of cognition in determining emotion; the role of expressive behavior in emotional experience). Such information will inform clinical interventions designed to promote health-promoting forms of emotion regulation, and could lead to e licit instruction for professionals (e.g., therapists, physicians, emergency rescue workers who must manage intense emotions (e.g., sexual attraction, disgust) in the course of their professional duties.

DESCRIPTION (provided by investigator): The overall goal of this application is to understand two fundamental strategies for regulating emotion. Cognitive reappraisal involves changing how one thinks about an emotion-eliciting situation in order to decrease emotion. Expressive suppression involves changing how one behaves in an emotion-eliciting situation in order to decrease emotion. Our framework is a model of emotion regulation that distinguishes among regulation strategies based on when during the emotion-generative process the strategy has its primary impact. In this model, reappraisal acts early, and efficiently shuts down the entire emotion before emotion response tendencies have been fully activated. Suppression acts later on, and inefficiently shuts down just behavior. This model suggests that reappraisal should generally have more favorable affective and social consequences than suppression. We propose to test these predictions using two complementary research approaches (experimental, correlational) and assessing multiple response domains (experiential, behavioral, autonomic, neural). Study 1 addresses how reappraisal and suppression alter affective response magnitude. Study 2 tests predictions regarding affective response coherence, and examines how dissociations between experience and behavior influence autonomic responding. To provide converging evidence for our model, Studies 3A and 3B use fMRI to examine the neural bases of the affective processes tested in Studies 1 and 2. Study 4 addresses short term social consequences of reappraisal and suppression, and tests several mediators. Study 5 takes a longer-term perspective, and examines the cumulative affective and social consequences of individual differences in the use of reappraisal and suppression with a 5-year longitudinal study of young adults undergoing two major life transitions. These programmatic and theoretically motivated studies coordinate experimental and individual-difference approaches to test the role reappraisal and suppression play inaffective and social functioning, and to elucidate the mechanisms that underlie these effects. The broad, on regulation processes, laying the foundation for advances in theory long-term objective of this research is to further our understanding of basic emotion and emotion-regulation processes, laying the foundation for advances in theory and clinical interventions that will improve psychological and physical health.

Emotions reflect an appraisal of situations, and they help people to respond to situations in particular ways. However, appraisals may be modified, and emotional response tendencies may be overridden. These emotion regulatory processes permit people to manage their emotions, to influence which emotions they have, and to choose how these emotions are expressed. Such emotion regulation is essential to healthy adaptation, and so pervasive that it is often taken for granted. Emotion regulation clearly has consequences for the person who is doing the regulating, but it also may have important consequences for others. The current project examines the social consequences of two important forms of emotion regulation. The first, antecedent-focused emotion regulation, is exemplified by reappraisal, in which one reinterprets one's situation so as to reduce its emotional impact. The second, response-focused emotion regulation, is exemplified by suppression, in which one inhibits emotion-expressive behavior. Behavioral, physiological, and self-report measures will be used to examine the social consequences of reappraisal and suppression. The long-term objective is to better understand the nature and consequences of emotion regulation. Such research could have important implications for understanding emotion and emotion regulation, and will lay the foundation for interventions promoting healthy forms of emotion regulation. ?Á/¢Á ?>?Á?¢¥/>??>À ? ¥©Á Â/?¥??¢ ¥©/¥ /ÂÂÁ?¥ ?Á??%Á ¢ ??%%?>À>Á¢¢ />? /??%?¥` ¥? ??>Â??>¥ >ÁÀ/¥??Á ?>Â??_/¥??> />? ¥? ©?À©%?À©¥ ¥©Á ??%Á ? ??¢?¥??Á ÂÁÁ%?>À¢ />? ?Á%?Á¢ ?> ¥©Á _/>/ÀÁ_Á>¥ ? >ÁÀ/¥??Á Á?Á>¥¢ />? ?>Â??_/¥??>

Self-regulation is the cornerstone of adaptive behavior, and nowhere is the capacity for self-regulation more critical than when it comes to emotions. Emotion regulation provides the basis for success at work and in interpersonal relations. Sustained attention at work requires that people put out of mind emotional impulses, and good interpersonal relations require that people judiciously monitor which emotions they express and how they express them. In the past two decades, emotion researchers have begun to rigorously examine emotion regulatory processes. However, further theoretical and empirical progress requires a deeper understanding of the neural substrates of emotion regulation. In this two-study exploratory project, state-of-the-art autonomic and central monitoring procedures will be used to examine the up- and down-regulation of approach and withdrawal tendencies, which together represent the basic elements of motivated behavior. These studies have two specific aims: (1) To determine the autonomic, behavioral, and subjective correlates of the regulation of approach- and withdrawal-related impulses; specifically, hunger and disgust. (2) To determine the neural correlates of self-regulation of approach and withdrawal, using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and simultaneous autonomic physiological recording. The first study will address Specific Aim 1 by recording autonomic, subjective, and behavioral responses from experimental participants who are regulating disgust and/or hunger under a variety of stimulus presentation conditions. The second study will address Specific Aim 2 by recording brain activity, autonomic physiology, and subjective experience in participants who are regulating their experience of disgust- and hunger-related stimuli selected on the basis of the results of Study 1.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Regulation, and in particular, the ability to cognitively control emotional responses is essential for mental health. Emotion dysregulation lies at the heart of many psychiatric disorders, such as depression. Emotion regulation also may influence physical health, and there is growing evidence that regulation difficulties contribute to the onset and progression of cardiovascular disease and that interventions that improve emotion regulation increase cardiovascular health. What remains unclear, however, are the cognitive and neural mechanisms that underlie our emotion regulatory abilities. This proposal outlines a series of studies that tackle this question using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the ability to cognitively control emotion. This ability is known as reappraisal, which entails interpreting an emotional stimulus or event in terms that attenuate (i.e. decrease) or enhance (i.e. increase) one's emotional response. Experiments 1-3 are aimed at developing a model of cognitive reappraisal in healthy young adults. We hypothesize, that reappraisal should depend upon prefrontal and cingulate systems that implement cognitive control processes, and should modulate activation of emotion processing systems such as the amygdala, striatum, and orbitofrontal cortex. To test these hypotheses, studies examine the attenuation and enhancement of positive emotions; examine possible mediating component processes, and reappraisal to other forms of regulation. A special aspect of all studies is the inclusion of large participant populations that will allow us to examine the influence on emotion of gender and other individual differences variables that influence emotional responding and regulation. These differences are used to test the model's ability to account for normal variations in emotional experience, and to discover to whom the model best applies.

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of this proposal is to elucidate the neural bases of emotional reactivity and cognitive regulation in social phobia (SP), and to identify the neural mechanisms underlying therapeutic change associated with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for SP. Basic research has examined emotional reactivity and cognitive regulation in healthy controls (HC), but this research has not yet delineated the mechanisms underlying emotion regulation in individuals with SP. Clinical research has shown that CBT is an effective treatment for many individuals with SP, but mechanisms of change and predictors of therapeutic response are not yet well described. To integrate basic and clinical literatures, we use a framework that views emotion regulation in terms of interactions between ventral emotion-generative brain regions and dorsal emotion- regulatory brain regions. Within this framework, we propose to examine emotional reactivity and cognitive regulation in HC and in participants with generalized SP pre- and post-CBT. The proposed studies address 3 aims: Aim 1 examines the neural substrates of emotional reactivity and cognitive regulation in SP versus HC. Study 1A tests the hypothesis that SP individuals will show greater responses than HC in ventral emotion-generative brain regions to social anxiety stimuli, but comparable responses to (non-social) general anxiety or neutral stimuli. Study 1B tests the hypothesis that SP individuals will show lesser responses than HC in dorsal emotion-regulatory brain regions when asked to regulate responses to social anxiety stimuli, but comparable responses when asked to regulate responses to general anxiety stimuli. Aim 2 identifies mechanisms of change by examining SP patients pre- and post-CBT. SP patients who complete Studies 1A and 1B will undergo 4 months of CBT. Upon completion of treatment or waitlist (SP) or a matched time interval (HC), Study 2A tests the hypothesis that SP CBT responders will show lesser responses in ventral brain regions to social anxiety stimuli (a) than at pre-treatment, (b) than SP non-responders at post-CBT, and (c) than SP waitlist controls. Study 2B tests the hypothesis that CBT responders will show greater responses in dorsal brain regions to social anxiety stimuli (a) than at pre-treatment, (b) than SP non-responders at post- treatment, and (c) than SP waitlist controls. For both study 2A and 2B, we expect that SP CBT responders and HC at Time 2 will show comparable responses to social and general anxiety stimuli. Aim 3 assesses predictors of treatment responses to CBT. Study 3 tests the hypothesis that greater emotional reactivity (affective vulnerability) and lesser cognitive regulation (implementation deficit) pre- and post-treatment will independently predict worse clinical outcomes at 5 and 10 months post-CBT for individuals with SP. The broad, long-term objective of this translational research program is to contribute to advances in theory and clinical interventions that will improve psychological well-being in people suffering from SP. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of this proposal is to elucidate the neural bases of emotional reactivity and cognitive regulation in social phobia (SP), and to identify the neural mechanisms underlying therapeutic change associated with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for SP. Basic research has examined emotional reactivity and cognitive regulation in healthy controls (HC), but this research has not yet delineated the mechanisms underlying emotion regulation in individuals with SP. Clinical research has shown that CBT is an effective treatment for many individuals with SP, but mechanisms of change and predictors of therapeutic response are not yet well described. To integrate basic and clinical literatures, we use a framework that views emotion regulation in terms of interactions between ventral emotion-generative brain regions and dorsal emotion- regulatory brain regions. Within this framework, we propose to examine emotional reactivity and cognitive regulation in HC and in participants with generalized SP pre- and post-CBT. The proposed studies address 3 aims: Aim 1 examines the neural substrates of emotional reactivity and cognitive regulation in SP versus HC. Study 1A tests the hypothesis that SP individuals will show greater responses than HC in ventral emotion-generative brain regions to social anxiety stimuli, but comparable responses to (non-social) general anxiety or neutral stimuli. Study 1B tests the hypothesis that SP individuals will show lesser responses than HC in dorsal emotion-regulatory brain regions when asked to regulate responses to social anxiety stimuli, but comparable responses when asked to regulate responses to general anxiety stimuli. Aim 2 identifies mechanisms of change by examining SP patients pre- and post-CBT. SP patients who complete Studies 1A and 1B will undergo 4 months of CBT. Upon completion of treatment or waitlist (SP) or a matched time interval (HC), Study 2A tests the hypothesis that SP CBT responders will show lesser responses in ventral brain regions to social anxiety stimuli (a) than at pre-treatment, (b) than SP non-responders at post-CBT, and (c) than SP waitlist controls. Study 2B tests the hypothesis that CBT responders will show greater responses in dorsal brain regions to social anxiety stimuli (a) than at pre-treatment, (b) than SP non-responders at post- treatment, and (c) than SP waitlist controls. For both study 2A and 2B, we expect that SP CBT responders and HC at Time 2 will show comparable responses to social and general anxiety stimuli. Aim 3 assesses predictors of treatment responses to CBT. Study 3 tests the hypothesis that greater emotional reactivity (affective vulnerability) and lesser cognitive regulation (implementation deficit) pre- and post-treatment will independently predict worse clinical outcomes at 5 and 10 months post-CBT for individuals with SP. The broad, long-term objective of this translational research program is to contribute to advances in theory and clinical interventions that will improve psychological well-being in people suffering from SP. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of this proposal is to identify the neural mechanisms underlying changes associated with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Clinical research has shown that MBSR reduces psychological distress and increases well-being, but the mechanisms underlying these changes in not well described. Basic research has examined the neural bases of emotion and emotion regulation, but this research has not examined changes following MBSR. To integrate clinical and basic research literatures, we employ a translational framework that characterizes the impact of MBSR on emotion regulation in terms of interactions between ventral emotion-generative brain regions and dorsal emotion-regulatory brain regions. Within this framework, we propose to compare the effects of MBSR and an active control condition (ACC) in participants with generalized social phobia (SP). SP will be randomly assigned to MBSR or ACC and assessed using self-report inventories and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) before and after MBSR and the ACC. Three aims will be investigated: Aim 1 investigates the effects of MBSR on anxiety and well-being. For the MBSR participants, we expect significant (a) decreases in anxiety, and (b) increases in well-being at immediately post-intervention and at the 3-month follow-up compared to pre-intervention. For the ACC participants, we expect no change in anxiety or well-being from pre- to post-intervention. Aim 2 investigates the effects of MBSR on attentional and cognitive emotion regulation. We expect MBSR participants to show improvements in attentional regulation (the focus of MBSR), but no change in cognitive regulation (not the focus of MBSR) from pre- to post-intervention, as indicated by (a) greater reductions in negative emotion ratings, (b) greater reductions in ventral emotion-generative brain regions, as well as (c) greater increases in attention-related dorsal emotion-regulatory brain regions. We do not expect ACC participants to show changes in either form of regulation from pre- to post-ACC. Aim 3 investigates whether MBSR-related changes in attentional emotion regulation mediate MBSR treatment response (decreases in anxiety and increases in well-being) at post-treatment and at the 3-month follow-up.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Emotion dysregulation is thought to be a core mechanism underlying many Axis-I and Axis-II psychiatric disorders. In particular, emotion dysregulation is believed to play a crucial role in the anxiety and mood disorders. A growing body of empirical work is beginning to illuminate the neural correlates and behavioral sequelae of emotion dysregulation in individuals suffering from anxiety and mood disorders. However, little is known about how psychosocial treatments for anxiety and mood disorders impact emotion dysregulation. The proposed study will directly address this gap in our knowledge by examining how two psychosocial treatment modalities-Cognitive- Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)-impact two specific forms of emotion regulation-cognitive regulation (CR) and attention regulation (AR). The clinical context for our proposed study is generalized Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), a highly prevalent, persistent, and often debilitating psychiatric condition characterized by overwhelming fear and avoidance of social situations. Our proposed research addresses three major aims: Aim 1 examines the efficacy and neural bases of CR and AR in SAD versus HC. Aim 2 investigates the immediate and longer-term impact of CBT versus MBSR for SAD. Aim 3 examines changes in CR and AR and tests whether these changes mediate effects of CBT versus MBSR. Adult patients with SAD will be randomly assigned to CBT, MBSR, or WL and administered assessments (including clinical diagnostic interviews, psychiatric and individual difference questionnaires, and functional neuroimaging of emotional reactivity and emotion regulation during a social evaluation task) at baseline, immediately after treatment, and 6 months post-treatment completion. The broad, long-term objective of this translational research program is to further our understanding of basic emotion regulation mechanisms and to contribute to advances in clinical interventions that will improve the health of individuals suffering from Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) as well as a range of other anxiety and mood disorders.

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. The overall goal is to identify the neural mechanisms associated with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Clinical research has shown that MBSR reduces psychological distress and increases well-being, but the mechanisms underlying these changes in not well described. Basic research has examined the neural bases of emotion and emotion regulation, but this research has not examined changes following MBSR. To read about other projects ongoing at the Lucas Center, please visit http://rsl.stanford.edu/ (Lucas Annual Report and ISMRM 2011 Abstracts)

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The ability to successfully regulate emotions is among the most critical of human capacities. Basic research in affective neuroscience has begun to elucidate the cognitive processes which support this vital ability, attesting in particula to the efficacy of two major forms of emotion regulation, attentional deployment (AD) and cognitive reappraisal (CR). AD and CR are thought to operate through distinct cognitive mechanisms, differing both in (1) when they impact the temporal trajectory of emotion generation, and (2) which neural systems they engage. Critically, recent behavioral research has shown that AD and CR are differentially affected by the intensity of the emotion to be regulated, with CR - but not AD - becoming less effective under high levels of emotional load. The mechanisms underlying this differential impact of emotional load on AD and CR remain unclear. The broad, long-term objective of this proposal is to use a neurobiologically informed framework to account for the differential effect of emotional load on AD and CR by elucidating key differences in their temporal dynamics and patterns of neural engagement. More specifically, we propose to use electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine AD and CR under differing levels of emotional load. We hypothesize that (1a) AD will attenuate an electrocortical index of emotional stimulus processing (the late positive potential; LPP) at an early phase, but that CR will do so at a later phase, and importantly, (1b) the early attenuation of the LPP by AD will remain consistent across varying levels of emotional load, but the late attenuation by CR will weaken under high levels of emotional load. Second, we hypothesize that (2a) AD will recruit prefrontal and parietal regions involved in attentional control, whereas CR will recruit lateral and medial prefrontal brain region which have been associated with cognitive control and with affective meaning processing, and crucially, (2b) the modulation of amygdala activity via attentional brain regions in AD will be consistent across varying levels of emotional load, but the modulation of amygdala activity via affective-meaning processing regions in CR will vary as a function of emotional load (with no modulation under high emotional load). Our proposed research will help us to understand why certain regulation strategies seem to break down and become ineffective under high levels of emotional load, and may suggest new interventions for high-risk individuals based on the notion that, in order to optimize their overall utility, regulation strategies may need to be flexibly deployed according to the unique emotional demands of the situation.

Ending long-standing conflicts is an urgent global challenge. Although intractable conflicts develop an air of inevitability over time, these conflicts are initiated and maintained by people; therefore, changing people's hearts and minds is a critical step for resolving such conflicts. The present research evaluates a new theory-based intervention designed to promote more productive emotions and attitudes in the context of an ongoing intractable conflict. The proposed project extends preliminary work by this research team, which showed that teaching in-group members that groups do not have a fixed nature (an incremental belief about groups) increased favorable attitudes toward the opposing group and, in turn, fostered greater willingness to engage in major compromises that could lead to peace. In the current project, the researchers will for the first time examine the longer term effects of this belief-based intervention in a societal context in which in-group participants are routinely exposed to negative information about the out-group. The researchers will compare this belief-based intervention to both a Perspective Taking Intervention (a common conflict resolution strategy) and a Coping Control Intervention. Before participants are randomly assigned to one of the three interventions (and then again immediately after and six months later), attitudes and emotions toward the out-group will be assessed, along with favorability toward conciliatory actions. The study design will allow an examination of the durability of the effects of each of these three intervention conditions, as well as their influence across ideological sub-groups as they confront real world conflict-related events. Importantly, the focal intervention introduces a novel way of promoting conflict resolution, in that there is no attempt to create interactions, familiarity, empathy or perspective-taking between members of conflicting groups. Instead, the focus is on promoting a change in mindset. This research will have a broader impact on society by testing a novel approach to conflict resolution that does not involve the logistical problems associated with other interventions, such as bringing parties in conflict together or running the risk of engendering resistance by explicitly trying to teach hostile groups in intractable conflicts to empathize with each other. If successful, this new belief-based approach can be disseminated easily and broadly, and can work for people with a variety of ideological stances and cultural characteristics. This approach has relevance to a large number of intra-national and international conflicts, and to efforts aimed at preventing future conflicts.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Affective science is concerned with emotions and emotion-related phenomena such as moods, emotional traits, and emotion-based pathology. Given that over 80% of mental disorders involve emotion disturbances, it is evident that affective science is central to the mission of NIMH. Rapid growth in the field of affective science has been accompanied by scientific specialization that has had both benefits and costs. Among the benefits are increasingly mature theories and an explosion of methodological advances and empirically-derived knowledge concerning aspects of affect ranging from molecular to molar levels. Among the costs are increasingly narrow training and growing isolation among areas of specialization, resulting in basic affective scientists who are less aware of the larger applied context, and applied affective scientists who are less aware of work on basic processes. This multi-university training program is predicated on the idea that fostering an appreciation and understanding of the theories, methods, and data of areas of affective science beyond one's own area of specialization lays the groundwork for better communication among subspecialties, more interdisciplinary collaborations, and stronger bidirectional links between basic science and clinical translation. The training faculty are specialists in all aspects of affect, including neurobiological, psychological, developmental, and social methods. Since its inception, the training program has nurtured the development of a highly productive group of researchers, including some of the leading scientists in affective science. This revised application builds on the rich legacy of this program and presents a highly focused training program designed to train the next generation of affective scientists. Four new predoctoral trainees will be selected each year - one from each of the four participating Bay Area universities (Stanford University and the Berkeley, Davis, and San Francisco campuses of the University of California). Trainees will participate in a two-year training sequence. Training will take place in a year-long seminar at Berkeley, specialized methods workshops led by training faculty across the four campuses, a structured research rotation in a laboratory outside each trainee's own laboratory, and an annual conference/workshop where trainees' research findings are shared and discussed. Close mentoring and monitoring of trainee progress will be maintained throughout. This training program provides clear added value for trainees, faculty, and departments/universities. The added value of this program flows from (1) exposure to state-of-the-art methods, (2) interactions among trainees and faculty, (3) opportunities for professional development, and (4) cross-fertilization across research programs, laboratories, departments, and universities. The training and resources provided by this program are designed to promote exceptional productivity and academic success among trainees.

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Women diagnosed with breast cancer are choosing bilateral mastectomy (BLM) at increasing rates, currently 14.3%, and 33% of those under 40. This is happening despite evidence that there is no survival benefit from BLM, along with surgical complications and other serious medical and personal costs, compared with more conservative approaches. Women's anxiety about recurrence is critical to this decision, so their choice may in large part reflect the way they experience and regulate affect. To understand the neurobiological and affective determinants of the choice of BLM, and thereby identify future opportunities for new interventions, we propose to examine the relationship between affect reactivity and regulation and women's decisions regarding BLM after initial diagnosis of breast cancer. We will also examine the impact of affect management and treatment decisions on subsequent psychosocial functioning. The study will involve recruiting a sample of 150 women recently diagnosed with breast cancer after their decision about treatment (75 who have elected BLM and 75 demographically and medically similar women who have decided not to have BLM), as well as a matched control group of 50 women without breast cancer. Affective reactivity to negative non-cancer and cancer- related stimuli will be studied using functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI). Likewise, affective regulation will be assessed with fMRI probes of both explicit (i.e. conscious, deliberate) and implicit (i.e. nonconscious, automatic) regulation o negative non-cancer and cancer-related stimuli. Psychosocial functioning will be assessed using self-report measures of anxiety, depression, well-being and functional status at 6, 12, and 18 months post-decision. Informational (e.g. awareness of influential people who have undergone BLM), and demographic variables (age, race, SES) will also be assessed. A physiological stress response measure, diurnal salivary cortisol slope, will be obtained at baseline and all follow-ups. This measure has been shown be associated with expression of negative affect, and to predict breast cancer progression. Our Specific Aims are to: 1) Examine affect reactivity and regulation among women with a recent diagnosis of breast cancer in comparison to healthy controls; 2) Relate affect reactivity and regulation to choice of BLM; and 3) Assess long term functional consequences of BLM decision and affect reactivity and regulation. This study will provide an empirical basis for better assisting patients in making difficult but important choices regarding breast cancer treatment alternatives.

PROJECT SUMMARY The overall goal of this proposal is to examine the role of emotion regulation (ER) in sleep bruxism (SB). SB is characterized by extreme levels of masticatory muscle activity (MMA) during sleep, expressed as teeth grinding or clenching. SB may proximally lead to tooth damage, orofacial pain, and impaired sleep; predispose to the development of joint degenerative disorders; and ultimately present a preclinical sign for a broader range of neurodegenerative disorders. However, there is as yet no curative treatment for SB, and the mechanisms underlying SB are not well understood. To fill this gap, we propose an integrative neurobiological framework that focuses on the involvement of impaired downregulation of wake-time emotion in SB. We will test basic tenets of this framework by addressing four major aims: Aim 1 tests differences in task-related neural activation during ER in individuals with SB (SB+) vs. matched controls (SB?). Aim 2 investigates direct and indirect pathways associating task- related prefrontal cortex activatin during ER with MMA during sleep among SB+ and SB?. Aim 3 examines whether neural activation during ER can be experimentally manipulated in SB+. Aim 4 addresses causal mechanisms by investigating whether more efficient task-related prefrontal cortex activation during ER decreases MMA during sleep in SB+ through decreased task-related emotional activation of the amygdala. 100 SB+ and 50 SB? will be defined based on polysomnographic research diagnostic criteria. Functional activations of brain regions of interest during an ER task will be assessed and ambulatory monitoring of MMA during sleep will be conducted. In SB+, ER will be experimentally manipulated and effects will be assessed on functional activations of brain regions of interest during the ER task as well as on MMA during sleep. The proposed work is part of a programatic translational research agenda to develop novel effective therapies that target ER processes to alleviate affective, sleep, and stress-induced neurodegenerative disorders.

People often respond emotionally to the dramatic socio-political events that are taking place around the word. This is especially true when such events are occurring in well-established democracies and at home, and not just in faraway countries. In many cases, expressing strong emotions can create and perpetuate conflicts with others who may be responding to these events in very different ways. Acknowledging the importance of emotions in intergroup conflicts has led to recent attempts to reduce conflict-related emotions using psychological interventions. Initial studies show that these efforts can be helpful in reducing destructive emotions and promoting conflict resolution. However, it is not typically possible to apply interventions to an entire population. Instead, interventions must be applied to a portion or subgroup of the population. This project examines whether reducing a subgroup's emotions can have a long-lasting influence on the overall group's emotions and level of conflict. The goal of the project is to find ways to optimize psychological interventions and reduce harmful conflict.

Three studies use the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a case study. The first study examines the unfolding of negative emotional dynamics within groups. Recent developments in computer science are utilized to create an online network that allows the examination of real-time, online interactions. The second study examines how these emotional dynamics are influenced by emotion regulation interventions applied to different portions of the group. This will enable the identification of the conditions under which interventions achieve maximum utility in influencing overall negative group emotions. The third study tests the long-term effects of the emotion regulation interventions and assesses how these effects are influenced by emotional dynamics. The research will make an important contribution to maximizing the scalability of psychological interventions and achieving the long-term aim of reducing harmful conflict. Immediate applications resulting from the project can be facilitated by the Stanford Center for Social Psychological Answers to Real-World Questions (SPARQ), which provides consultation to many organizations interested in psychological interventions. A collaboration with researchers at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, Israel provides additional opportunities for implementation and dissemination. The project includes the development of an open source platform that can be utilized by researchers in many fields, thereby advancing other areas of science.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

PROJECT SUMMARY The overall goal of this proposal is to examine the role of emotion regulation (ER) in sleep bruxism (SB). SB is characterized by extreme levels of masticatory muscle activity (MMA) during sleep, expressed as teeth grinding or clenching. SB may proximally lead to tooth damage, orofacial pain, and impaired sleep; predispose to the development of joint degenerative disorders; and ultimately present a preclinical sign for a broader range of neurodegenerative disorders. However, there is as yet no curative treatment for SB, and the mechanisms underlying SB are not well understood. To fill this gap, we propose an integrative neurobiological framework that focuses on the involvement of impaired downregulation of wake-time emotion in SB. We will test basic tenets of this framework by addressing four major aims: Aim 1 tests differences in task-related neural activation during ER in individuals with SB (SB+) vs. matched controls (SB-). Aim 2 investigates direct and indirect pathways associating task- related prefrontal cortex activatin during ER with MMA during sleep among SB+ and SB-. Aim 3 examines whether neural activation during ER can be experimentally manipulated in SB+. Aim 4 addresses causal mechanisms by investigating whether more efficient task-related prefrontal cortex activation during ER decreases MMA during sleep in SB+ through decreased task-related emotional activation of the amygdala. 100 SB+ and 50 SB- will be defined based on polysomnographic research diagnostic criteria. Functional activations of brain regions of interest during an ER task will be assessed and ambulatory monitoring of MMA during sleep will be conducted. In SB+, ER will be experimentally manipulated and effects will be assessed on functional activations of brain regions of interest during the ER task as well as on MMA during sleep. The proposed work is part of a programatic translational research agenda to develop novel effective therapies that target ER processes to alleviate affective, sleep, and stress-induced neurodegenerative disorders.