This may not be surprising considering that stress is thought to compromise the exact neural circuitry that emotion regulation relies on 4. Despite our best efforts, however, we are not always successful in diminishing unpleasant feelings when using cognitive strategies under stress 3. We often use cognitive regulation strategies to suppress these unpleasant feelings altogether (e.g., suppression) or to reinterpret the negative situation into something less negative or neutral (e.g., cognitive reappraisal) 2. These findings highlight the restorative and protective function of self-generated positive emotions via memory recall in the face of stress.Īcute stress can leave us feeling anxious and distressed, with detrimental consequences to our physical and mental health 1. During positive reminiscence, we observed engagement of corticostriatal circuits previously implicated in reward-processing and emotion regulation, and stronger connectivity between ventrolateral and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex as a function of positivity. Further, individuals with greater self-reported resiliency showed enhanced mood, despite stress exposure. Across both studies, recalling positive, but not neutral, memories resulted in a dampened cortisol rise and reduced negative affect. ![]() Participants underwent an acute stressor or control task followed by autobiographical memory recollection (of only positive or neutral valence). In two studies, we explored whether recalling autobiographical memories that have a positive content – i.e., remembering the good times – can dampen the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis stress response. ![]() Recalling happy memories elicits positive feelings and enhances one’s wellbeing, suggesting a potential adaptive function in using this strategy for coping with stress.
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