Cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression evoke distinct neural connections during interpersonal emotion regulation

Interpersonal emotion regulation is the dynamic process where the regulator aims to change the target’s emotional state, which is presumed to engage three neural systems: cognitive control (i.e., dorsal and ventral lateral prefrontal cortex, etc.), empathy/social cognition (i.e., dorsal premotor regions, temporal-parietal junction, etc.), and affective responding (i.e., insula, amygdala, etc.). This study aimed to identify the underlying neural correlate (especially the interpersonal one), of interpersonal emotion regulation based upon two typical strategies (cognitive appraisal, expressive suppression). Thirty-four female dyads (friends) were randomly assigned into two strategy groups, with one assigned as the target, and the other as the regulator to down-regulate the target’s negative emotions using two strategies. A functional near-infrared spectroscopy system was used to simultaneously measure participants’ neural activity. Results showed that these two strategies could successfully down-regulate the targets’ negative emotions. Both strategies evoked intrapersonal and interpersonal neural couplings between the cognitive control, social cognition and mirror neuron systems (e.g., prefrontal cortex, temporal-parietal junction, premotor cortex, etc.), whereas cognitive reappraisal (versus expressive suppression) evoked a broader pattern. Further, cognitive reappraisal involved increased interpersonal brain synchronization between the prefrontal and temporal areas at the sharing stage, whereas expressive suppression engaged increased interpersonal brain synchronization associated with the prefrontal cortex at the regulation stage. These findings indicate that intrapersonal and interpersonal neural couplings associated with regions within the abovementioned systems, possibly involving mental processes such as cognitive control, mentalizing, and observing, underlie interpersonal emotion regulation based on cognitive reappraisal or expressive suppression.