Cognitive reappraisal is an emotion regulation strategy that has been shown effective in down-regulating negative emotions in both psychological and electrophysiological measures. Although there are many studies on cognitive reappraisal, only recently have there been studies differentiating between various ways of employing the strategy. This event-related potential (ERP) study sets out to compare the efficiency and temporal dynamics of three cognitive reappraisal techniques – situation-focused reappraisal, social distancing, and temporal distancing – by measuring their effects on emotional responses to aversive pictures, as indexed by the affective ERP component the late positive potential (LPP). EEG data was recorded from 17 participants. The results revealed no significant differences between emotion regulation strategies and baseline for the total ERP epoch (3,000 ms). When differentiating between early (400-800 ms), mid (800-1,500 ms), and late (1,500-3,000) periods of the epoch, significance was found in some conditions, but since no significant overall LPP activity was found, these numbers are difficult to interpret.

Reappraisal is a cognitive emotion regulation strategy that induces a reduction in the arousal response elicited by both unpleasant and pleasant stimuli.One form of reappraisal is that of temporal distancing. Temporal distancing is the cognitive tool that allows the individual to perceive the stimuli in a broader temporal perspective.Reappraisal’s impact on the arousal response can be measured by assessing the amplitude of the event-related potential (ERP) component the late positive potential(LPP), a centro-parietal slow-wave ERP beginning around 350 ms post-stimulus and sustaining for up to several seconds. The aim of this study was to test various temporal-related perspectives in order to see their effect on the LPP. The analysis of the data suggests that a decrease in the amplitude of the LPP in response to emotionally unpleasant facial stimuli corresponds to adopting a temporal distancing strategy, regardless of the exact temporal distance chosen.

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