A recent fMRI study108 using mediation analysis demonstrated that the vlPFC acts on both the amygdala and the nucleus accumbens, resulting in opposite behavioural responses: the pathways through the amygdala and the nucleus accumbens were associated with reduced and increased reappraisal success, respectively108. These findings are consistent with animal studies, which have established that the amygdala and the nucleus accumbens work in concert to regulate an individual's responses to both negative and positive emotional stimuli. Thus, variability in the functions of these two pathways might underlie individual differences in emotional response and emotion regulation in stressful contexts. Greater use of reappraisal in everyday life has also been linked to greater PFC and lower amygdala activation to negative stimuli, suggesting that there might be a central mechanism through which reappraisal could promote successful coping and reduce the risk of mood disorder onset109.
