Kevin N.Ochsner, Silvia A. Bunge, James J. Gross and John D.E. Gabrieli
T  he abili ty to cognitively regulate emotional responses to aversive events is  important for mental and physical health. Little is known, however, about neural  bases of the cognitive control of emotion. The present study employed functional  magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neural systems used to reappraise  highly negative scenes in unemotional terms. Reappraisal of highly negative  scenes reduced subjective experience of negative affect. Neural correlates of  reappraisal were increased activation of the lateral and medial prefrontal  regions and decreased activation of the amygdala and medial or bitofrontal  cortex. These findings support the hypothesis
that prefrontal cortex is  involved in constructing reappraisal strategies that can modulate activity in  multiple emotion-processing systems.