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Despite normative declines in old age, healthy elderly In our view, the Brassen et al. findings point to the role
typically report surprisingly high levels of well-being. It of positive emotion regulation in healthy aging. Our inter-
is not clear why this is so. A study by Brassen and pretation – which is broader than the authors’ regret
colleagues suggests that one factor may be reduced interpretation – is that healthy older adults down-regulat-
responsiveness to regret. These findings highlight the ed the positive affect associated with optimal outcomes
role of emotion regulation in successful aging. and/or up-regulated the positive affect associated with non-
optimal outcomes. Several features of the Brassen et al.
Aging is normatively associated with declines in many results suggest this interpretation, including: (i) greater
important life domains. Sensory acuity plummets, physical relative ventral-striatal (VS) activation in trials with non-
abilities decline, cognitive capabilities decrease, and social optimal gain for healthy older adults, typically associated
networks shrink. Despite these losses, healthy older adults with positive affect [4]; (ii) no differences in activation in
typically report levels of well-being at least as high as those brain regions such as the amygdala and insula, typically
of younger adults [1]. Why is this? associated with negative affect; and (iii) no differences in
In a recent paper, Brassen et al. [2] hypothesized that self-reported regret after trials with non-optimal gains.
one key to healthy aging is reduced levels of regret. To test Future studies are needed to confirm whether positive
this idea, Brassen et al. used a decision task with three emotion regulation is indeed a mechanism underlying the
potential outcomes: optimal-gain, non-optimal-gain, and Brassen et al. findings. These studies must also tease apart
loss. Their particular focus was on trials with non-optimal potential alternative accounts involving up- versus down-
gains. In such trials, participants won some money, but regulation. Additionally, prior research has demonstrated
less than they could have if they had taken more risk – that increased striatal activation precedes risky choices
which potentially gave rise to feelings of regret. Whereas [5]; these findings must be reconciled with the current
young adults and depressed elderly appeared to respond to study, in which reduced striatal activity in elderly de-
their regret by taking greater risks in subsequent trials, pressed and young adults was associated with risky
healthy elderly did not show greater subsequent risk tak- choices.
ing. In addition, healthy elderly showed fronto-striatal and
autonomic responses that were indicative of disengage- Implicit and explicit control systems are important in
ment from regret experiences. Brassen et al. concluded emotion regulation
that reduced regret is a key component of successful aging. Researchers interested in the neural bases of emotion
We set these intriguing findings in a broader context by regulation have focused on the explicit down-regulation
considering the rapidly growing literature on emotion of negative emotion regulation. Several dozen studies have
regulation [3]. More specifically, we argue that these find- identified prefrontal control systems that include the
ings underscore three broader points: (i) healthy aging lateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex [6]. Far less is
involves the successful regulation of both positive and known about explicit positive emotion regulation, but
negative emotions; (ii) healthy aging involves the engage- available studies suggest that these same prefrontal
ment of both explicit and implicit regulatory control sys- regions are implicated here, too [4].
tems; and (iii) failures of emotion regulation are associated Not all emotion regulation is explicit, however, and
with diverse forms of psychopathology. Each of these ideas recent research has begun to focus on the neural bases
enable new predictions and richer interpretations of the of implicit emotion regulation. An emerging consensus
Brassen et al. findings. suggests that different control systems may support this
type of regulation. In particular, the perigenual anterior
Healthy aging involves positive and negative emotion cingulate cortex (pACC) appears to play a central role in
regulation the implicit down-regulation of negative emotions, such as
A growing literature suggests that healthy aging involves those occasioned by negative social evaluation [7]. This
emotion regulation, defined as processes by which we region is also implicated in the implicit down-regulation of
influence which emotions we have, when we have them, emotional conflict [8].
and how we experience and express them [3]. Although Tantalizingly, Brassen et al. show that healthy elderly
emotion regulation applies to both positive and negative evinced greater pACC activation for trials with non-optimal
emotions, research to date has focused on the regulation of gains relative to trials with optimal gains compared to
negative emotions, such as anger, sadness, and anxiety. depressed elderly and young adults. The authors interpret
this activation as evidence of cognitive control of emotion in
Corresponding author: Suri, G. (rsuri@stanford.edu);
the healthy elderly. This finding leads the question whether
Gross, J.J. (gross@stanford.edu). the observed pACC activation is more specifically evidence
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Spotlights Trends in Cognitive Sciences August 2012, Vol. 16, No. 8
of implicit positive emotion regulation. Future studies would depressed older adults should appear similar in this regard
need to investigate this issue. Additionally, Brassen et al. did to healthy younger adults, although one possibility is that
not report functional connectivity between pACC and VS. increased risk-taking has different functions and conse-
The demonstration of such connectivity would support an quences in younger than older adults.
implicit positive emotion regulation interpretation.
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