Regulating Dynamic Emotions

Emotion dysregulation is a central feature of mood disorders. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is known to support emotion regulation, however it is unclear how subregions dynamically contribute to ongoing emotional experience, across negative and positive effects. The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) is implicated in temporal and contextual control, yet engagement during naturalistic emotion processing has not been systematically examined. This study aims to characterize the temporal dynamics and representational content of PFC circuitry during naturalistic emotion processing and regulation, and test metacognitive awareness as a potential modulator of PFC recruitment. Participants (N=60) will complete novel tasks using temporally extended, emotionally evocative stimuli while undergoing fMRI with concurrent psychophysiological recording. Behavioral ratings and metacognitive probes will index subjective emotional experience, regulation success, and insight into one’s own affective responses.