T. CANLI, J. FERRI AND E. A. DUMAN
Emotions can be powerful drivers of  behavior that may be adaptive or maladaptive for the individual. Thus, the  ability to alter one’s emotions, to regulate them, should be
beneficial to an  individual's success of survival and fitness. What is the biological basis of  this ability? And what are the biological mechanisms that impart individual  differences in the ability to regulate emotion? In this article, we will first  introduce readers to the construct of emotion regulation, and the various  strategies that individuals may utilize to regulate their emotions. We will then  point to evidence that suggests genetic contributions (alongside environmental  contributions) to individual differences in emotion regulation. To date, efforts  to identify specific genetic mechanisms involved in emotion regulation have  focused on common gene variants (i.e. variants that exist in >1% of the  population, referred to as polymorphisms) and their association with specific  emotion regulation strategies or the neural substrate mediating these  strategies. We will discuss these efforts, and conclude with a call to expand  the set of experimental paradigms and putative molecular mechanisms, in order to  significantly advance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which  genes are involved in emotion regulation.