Affective style, psychopathology, and resilience: Brain mechanisms and plasticity

The brain circuitry underlying emotion includes several territories of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), the amygdala, hippocampus, anterior cingulate, and related structures. In general, the PFC represents emotion in the absence of immediately present incentives and thus plays a crucial role in the anti cipation of the future affective consequences of action, as well as in the persistence of emotion following the offset of an elicitor. The functions o f the other structures in this circuit are also considered. Individual diff erences in this circuitry are reviewed with an emphasis on asymmetry within the PFC and activation of the amygdala as 2 key components of affective st yle. These individual differences are related to both behavioral and biolog ical variables associated with affective style and emotion regulation. Plas ticity in this circuitry and its implications for transforming emotion and cultivating positive affect and resilience are considered.