What is the physiological mechanism of emotion regulation

At present, academic circles generally believe that the physiological core of emotion regulation is the synergistic effect of the brain regulatory network, neurotransmitter system, autonomic nervous system and endocrine system to adjust emotional physiological arousal that deviates from the steady state to a reasonable range.

You must have had this experience: you were suddenly questioned by your boss in public at work, and blood immediately rushed to your head. Your chest felt tight and your hands were shaking. You responded with a smile, hid in the fire escape and leaned against the wall and took a deep breath for several minutes. Then you took out the orange hard candy in your pocket and peeled it and ate it, slowly suppressing the anger. This calming process that you think is all accomplished by "willpower" is actually the result of the entire physiological mechanism running at full speed behind the scenes.

The moment you subconsciously suppress your anger and do not retaliate on the spot, the first thing to activate is the prefrontal cortex, which is the brain area responsible for our rational decision-making. It will quickly send inhibitory signals to the amygdala, which is responsible for emotional stress, and press the pause button on the already full "battle alarm". There are still some differences in the academic circles regarding the division of labor in this part. Earlier studies generally believed that the dorsolateral prefrontal lobe is responsible for rational cognitive regulation, and the ventromedial prefrontal lobe is responsible for integrating one's own emotional feelings and making adjustments. However, recent dynamic brain imaging studies have found that the activation of the two areas is almost synchronous, and there is no absolute boundary of division of labor. It is more like a linkage processing relationship.

It is not enough for the brain to give orders, the supporting neurotransmitters must keep up with the action. When you take a deep breath, your brain will accelerate the secretion of endorphins and serotonin, which are equivalent to natural "emotional buffers" and can quickly pull back the levels of dopamine and norepinephrine that have been raised by anger. The sweet stimulation brought by the orange candy you eat can further accelerate the secretion of serotonin, which is equivalent to a small accelerator for the calming process.

As the neurotransmitter signals spread throughout the body, the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system will also switch modes: the sympathetic nerves that were previously mobilized by the amygdala will slowly relax, and the vagus nerve will begin to take over the work. The rapidly rising heart rate and blood pressure will gradually decrease, and the cortisol that soars during stress will be slowly metabolized, and the feeling of congestion in your chest will gradually dissipate. Don't think that those who can't slow down in a long time are "small-minded". Many people who are born with low vagus nerve tone have a much slower recovery process than ordinary people. There are individual differences in the physiological basis of emotion regulation.

There are still many studies on the relationship between the gut-brain axis and emotional regulation. After all, the number of neurons in the intestine is no less than that of the spinal cord, and the efficiency of signal transmission is much higher than we think. Maybe in the future, if we want to quickly regulate our emotions, taking specific probiotics will be effective. It is not a fantasy.