The neural component-process architecture of endogenously generated emotion

Enhancing ventrolateral prefrontal cortex activation mitigates social pain and modifies subsequent social attitudes: Insights from TMS and fMRI

Social pain, a multifaceted emotional response triggered by interpersonal rejection or criticism, profoundly impacts mental well-being and social interactions. While prior research has implicated the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC) in mitigating social pain, the precise neural mechanisms and downstream effects on subsequent social attitudes remain elusive. This study employed transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) integrated with fMRI recordings during a social pain task to elucidate these aspects. Eighty participants underwent either active TMS targeting the rVLPFC (n = 41) or control stimulation at the vertex (n = 39). Our results revealed that TMS-induced rVLPFC facilitation significantly reduced self-reported social pain, confirming the causal role of the rVLPFC in social pain relief. Functional connectivity analyses demonstrated enhanced interactions between the rVLPFC and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, emphasizing the collaborative engagement of prefrontal regions in emotion regulation. Significantly, we observed that negative social feedback led to negative social attitudes, whereas rVLPFC activation countered this detrimental effect, showcasing the potential of the rVLPFC as a protective buffer against adverse social interactions. Moreover, our study uncovered the impact role of the hippocampus in subsequent social attitudes, a relationship particularly pronounced during excitatory TMS over the rVLPFC. These findings offer promising avenues for improving mental health within the intricate dynamics of social interactions. By advancing our comprehension of the neural mechanisms underlying social pain relief, this research introduces novel intervention strategies for individuals grappling with social distress. Empowering individuals to modulate rVLPFC activation may facilitate reshaping social attitudes and successful reintegration into communal life.

The interplay between memory control and emotion regulation

Memory control (MC) and emotion regulation (ER) are critical cognitive functions for adapting to life's challenges, drawing significant research attention. Accumulating evidence suggests these processes are interrelated, yet a comprehensive discussion of their interplay remains lacking. We introduce an integrative framework exploring the mutual influence between MC and ER, composed of two interrelated branches: first, MC aids in ER through the retrieval of positive memories, intentional forgetting of undesirable content, and the adaptive updating of memory stores. Second, ER impacts MC by upregulating positivity and downregulating negativity in memories. The framework spotlights the need to harness MC-ER interplay for future research. Potential directions include utilizing MC to amplify ER capabilities, training ER skills to refine MC performance, and modulating the cognitive and neural overlapping of both processes to improve both functions. Delving into the MC-ER nexus advances understanding of the intricate emotion-memory relationship and holds great promise for developing novel behavioral interventions.

The Active Inference Model of Coherence Therapy

Coherence Therapy is an empirically derived experiential psychotherapy based on Psychological Constructivism. Symptoms are viewed as necessary output from an implicit model of the world. The therapist curates experiences and directs attention toward discovering the model. Rendered explicit, the model is juxtaposed with contradictory knowledge driving memory re-consolidation with resolution of the symptom. The Bayesian Brain views perception and action as inferential processes. Prior beliefs are combined in a generative model to explain the hidden causes of sensations through a process of Active Inference. Prior beliefs that are poor fits to the real world are suboptimal. Suboptimal priors with optimal inference produce Bayes Optimal Pathology with behavioral symptoms. The Active Inference Model of Coherence Therapy posits that Coherence Therapy is a dyadic act of therapist guided Active Inference that renders the (probable) hidden causes of a client's behavior conscious. The therapist's sustained attention on the goal of inference helps to overcome memory control bias against retrieval of the affectively charged suboptimal prior. Serial experiences cue memory retrieval and re-instantiation of the physiological/affective state that necessitates production of the symptom in a particular context. As this process continues there is a break in modularity with assimilation into broader networks of experience. Typically, the symptom produced by optimal inference with the suboptimal prior is experienced as unnecessary/inappropriate when taken out of the particular context. The implicit construct has been re-represented and rendered consciously accessible, by a more complex but more accurate model in which the symptom is necessary in some contexts but not others. There is an experience of agency and control in symptom creation, accompanied by the spontaneous production of context appropriate behavior. The capacity for inference has been restored. The Active Inference Model of Coherence Therapy provides a framework for Coherence Therapy as a computational process which can serve as the basis for new therapeutic interventions and experimental designs integrating biological, cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors.

Tasks activating the default mode network map multiple functional systems

Recent developments in network neuroscience suggest reconsidering what we thought we knew about the default mode network (DMN). Although this network has always been seen as unitary and associated with the resting state, a new deconstructive line of research is pointing out that the DMN could be divided into multiple subsystems supporting different functions. By now, it is well known that the DMN is not only deactivated by tasks, but also involved in affective, mnestic, and social paradigms, among others. Nonetheless, it is starting to become clear that the array of activities in which it is involved, might also be extended to more extrinsic functions. The present meta-analytic study is meant to push this boundary a bit further. The BrainMap database was searched for all experimental paradigms activating the DMN, and their activation likelihood estimation maps were then computed. An additional map of task-induced deactivations was also created. A multidimensional scaling indicated that such maps could be arranged along an anatomo-psychological gradient, which goes from midline core activations, associated with the most internal functions, to that of lateral cortices, involved in more external tasks. Further multivariate investigations suggested that such extrinsic mode is especially related to reward, semantic, and emotional functions. However, an important finding was that the various activation maps were often different from the canonical representation of the resting-state DMN, sometimes overlapping with it only in some peripheral nodes, and including external regions such as the insula. Altogether, our findings suggest that the intrinsic-extrinsic opposition may be better understood in the form of a continuous scale, rather than a dichotomy.

Unsupervised classification reveals consistency and degeneracy in neural network patterns of emotion

In the present study, we used an unsupervised classification algorithm to reveal both consistency and degeneracy in neural network connectivity during anger and anxiety. Degeneracy refers to the ability of different biological pathways to produce the same outcomes. Previous research is suggestive of degeneracy in emotion, but little research has explicitly examined whether degenerate functional connectivity patterns exist for emotion categories such as anger and anxiety. Twenty-four subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while listening to unpleasant music and self-generating experiences of anger and anxiety. A data-driven model building algorithm with unsupervised classification (subgrouping Group Iterative Multiple Model Estimation) identified patterns of connectivity among 11 intrinsic networks that were associated with anger vs anxiety. As predicted, degenerate functional connectivity patterns existed within these overarching consistent patterns. Degenerate patterns were not attributable to differences in emotional experience or other individual-level factors. These findings are consistent with the constructionist account that emotions emerge from flexible functional neuronal assemblies and that emotion categories such as anger and anxiety each describe populations of highly variable instances.

The causal role of the bilateral ventrolateral prefrontal cortices on emotion regulation of social feedback

The ventrolateral prefrontal cortices (VLPFC) are crucial regions involved in voluntary emotion regulation. However, the lateralization of the VLPFC in downregulating negative emotions remains unclear; and whether the causal role of the VLPFC is generalizable to upregulating positive emotions is unexplored. This study used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to examine the causal relationship between the left/right VLPFC and social emotion reappraisal. One hundred and twenty participants were randomly assigned to either active (left and right VLPFC groups, n = 40/40) or sham (vertex, n = 40) TMS groups. Participants were instructed to passively receive social feedback or use reappraisal strategies to positively regulate their emotions. While the subjective emotional rating showed that the bilateral VLPFC facilitated the reappraisal success, the electrophysiological measure of the late positive potential (LPP) demonstrated a more critical role of the right VLPFC on social pain relief (decreased LPP amplitudes) and social reward magnification (enhanced LPP amplitudes). In addition, the influence of emotion regulation on social evaluation was found to be mediated by the memory of social feedback, indicating the importance of memory in social behavioral shaping. These findings suggest clinical protocols for the rehabilitation of emotion-regulatory function in patients with affective and social disorders.

Aberrant social feedback processing and its impact on memory, social evaluation, and decision-making among individuals with depressive symptoms

BACKGROUND

Depression is associated with aberrant social feedback processing. However, little is known about the impact of these deficits on individuals' memory, social evaluation, and social decision-making.

METHODS

We examined event-related potentials (ERPs) during the processing of social feedback with different emotional valences and intensities, among individuals with high and low depressive symptoms. After three days, participants performed a recall test, along with social evaluation and money allocation.

RESULTS

Compared with the control group, participants with depressive symptoms showed larger occipital P1 and parietal P3 amplitudes to negative social feedback, as well as larger frontal feedback-related negativity toward highly positive social feedback; this indicates toward altered attentional allocation, encoding, and anticipation in social feedback processing. After three days of social feedback processing, individuals in the depressive symptom group recalled negative social feedback better and gave less positive evaluations and allocated less money to the senders of highly negative social feedback compared with control group participants. Notably, ERPs predicted subsequent memory, social evaluation, and decision-making, suggesting a significant impact of aberrant social feedback processing on social cognition and behaviors in depression.

LIMITATIONS

Individuals with depressive symptoms rather than patients with depressive disorders were recruited and therefore caution is needed in applying the findings to clinical populations.

CONCLUSIONS

Individuals with depressive symptoms exhibit negative bias in anticipation, attentional allocation, and encoding processes during social feedback processing, which further influences their memory, social evaluation, and social decision-making in the long run. These aberrant biases should be targeted to prevent the development of major depressive disorders.

Dynamic functional brain networks underlying the temporal inertia of negative emotions

Affective inertia represents the lasting impact of transient emotions at one time point on affective state at a subsequent time point. Here we describe the neural underpinnings of inertia following negative emotions elicited by sad events in movies. Using a co-activation pattern analysis of dynamic functional connectivity, we examined the temporal expression and reciprocal interactions among brain-wide networks during movies and subsequent resting periods in twenty healthy subjects. Our findings revealed distinctive spatiotemporal expression of visual (VIS), default mode (DMN), central executive (CEN), and frontoparietal control (FPCN) networks both in negative movies and in rest periods following these movies. We also identified different reciprocal relationships among these networks, in transitions from movie to rest. While FPCN and DMN expression increased during and after negative movies, respectively, FPCN occurrences during the movie predicted lower DMN and higher CEN expression during subsequent rest after neutral movies, but this relationship was reversed after the elicitation of negative emotions. Changes in FPCN and DMN activity correlated with more negative subjective affect. These findings provide new insights into the transient interactions of intrinsic brain networks underpinning the inertia of negative emotions. More specifically, they describe a major role of FPCN in emotion elicitation processes, with prolonged impact on DMN activity in subsequent rest, presumably involved in emotion regulation and restoration of homeostatic balance after negative events.

Decreased emotional reactivity after 3-month socio-affective but not attention- or meta-cognitive-based mental training: A randomized, controlled, longitudinal fMRI study

Meditation-based mental training interventions show physical and mental health benefits. However, it remains unclear how different types of mental practice affect emotion processing at both the neuronal and the behavioural level. In the context of the ReSource project, 332 participants underwent an fMRI scan while performing an emotion anticipation task before and after three 3-month training modules cultivating 1) attention and interoceptive awareness (Presence); 2) socio-affective skills, such as compassion (Affect); 3) socio-cognitive skills, such as theory of mind (Perspective). Only the Affect module led to a significant reduction of experienced negative affect when processing images depicting human suffering. In addition, after the Affect module, participants showed significant increased activation in the right supramarginal gyrus when confronted with negative stimuli. We conclude that socio-affective, but not attention- or meta-cognitive based mental training is specifically effective to improve emotion regulation capabilities when facing adversity.

Forgetting positive social feedback is difficult: ERP evidence in a directed forgetting paradigm

Voluntary forgetting of unwanted memories is an adaptive cognitive function. However, it remains unknown how voluntary forgetting of unwanted social feedback may influence subsequent memories and evaluations, and what the underlying neurocognitive processes are. Here, we presented participants with peer photos together with feedback indicating social acceptance or rejection, followed by "remember" or "forget" instructive cues, while electroencephalograms were recorded during the experiment. We examined the Directed Forgetting (DF) effect in a recognition memory test, and tested participants' explicit and implicit attitudes toward the peers using a social evaluation task and an affect misattribution procedure (AMP). Both the memory test and the AMP were examined immediately and 3 days after the DF task so to estimate both the instant and the long-term effects of memory control. Behaviorally, immediate memory test showed smaller DF effect for positive than negative social feedback, which suggests that forgetting positive social feedback was more difficult than forgetting negative social feedback. Regarding the ERP results, although participants showed comparable frontal N2 amplitudes (reflecting inhibitory control efforts) following the instruction of forgetting positive and negative social feedback, positive feedback elicited larger late positive potential (LPP) amplitudes than negative feedback during initial encoding phase, suggesting an encoding bias for positive self-relevant information. Intriguingly, voluntary efforts to forget negative social feedback enhanced people's explicit and implicit evaluations toward the feedback senders. These findings provide new evidence for the adaptive function of memory control, which broadens the influence of voluntary forgetting in the context of social interaction and social evaluation.

Brain functional connectivity dynamics at rest in the aftermath of affective and cognitive challenges

Carry-over effects on brain states have been reported following emotional and cognitive events, persisting even during subsequent rest. Here, we investigated such effects by identifying recurring co-activation patterns (CAPs) in neural networks at rest with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We compared carry-over effects on brain-wide CAPs at rest and their modulation after both affective and cognitive challenges. Healthy participants underwent fMRI scanning during emotional induction with negative valence and performed cognitive control tasks, each followed by resting periods. Several CAPs, overlapping with the default-mode (DMN), salience, dorsal attention, and social cognition networks were impacted by both the preceding events (movie or task) and the emotional valence of the experimental contexts (neutral or negative), with differential dynamic fluctuations over time. Temporal metrics of DMN-related CAPs were altered after exposure to negative emotional content (compared to neutral) and predicted changes in subjective affect on self-reported scores. In parallel, duration rates of another attention-related CAP increased with greater task difficulty during the preceding cognitive control condition, specifically in the negative context. These findings provide new insights on the anatomical organization and temporal inertia of functional brain networks, whose expression is differentially shaped by emotional states, presumably mediating adaptive homeostatic processes subsequent to behaviorally challenging events.

Differential contribution of anterior and posterior midline regions during mental simulation of counterfactual and perspective shifts in autobiographical memories

Retrieving autobiographical memories induces a natural tendency to mentally simulate alternate versions of past events, either by reconstructing the perceptual details of the originally experienced perspective or the conceptual information of what actually occurred. Here we examined whether the episodic system recruited during imaginative experiences functionally dissociates depending on the nature of this reconstruction. Using fMRI, we evaluated differential patterns of neural activity and hippocampal connectivity when twenty-nine participants naturally recalled past negative events, shifted visual perspective, or imagined better or worse outcomes than what actually occurred. We found that counterfactual thoughts were distinguished by neural recruitment in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, whereas shifts in visual perspective were uniquely supported by the precuneus. Additionally, connectivity with the anterior hippocampus changed depending upon the mental simulation that was performed - with enhanced hippocampal connectivity with medial prefrontal cortex for counterfactual simulations and precuneus for shifted visual perspectives. Together, our findings provide a novel assessment of differences between these common methods of mental simulation and a more detailed account for the neural network underlying episodic retrieval and reconstruction.

Mesocorticolimbic Interactions Mediate fMRI-Guided Regulation of Self-Generated Affective States

Increasing evidence shows that the generation and regulation of affective responses is associated with activity of large brain networks that also include phylogenetically older regions in the brainstem. Mesencephalic regions not only control autonomic responses but also participate in the modulation of autonomic, emotional, and motivational responses. The specific contribution of the midbrain to emotion regulation in humans remains elusive. Neuroimaging studies grounding on appraisal models of emotion emphasize a major role of prefrontal cortex in modulating emotion-related cortical and subcortical regions but usually neglect the contribution of the midbrain and other brainstem regions. Here, the role of mesolimbic and mesocortical networks in core affect generation and regulation was explored during emotion regulation guided by real-time fMRI feedback of the anterior insula activity. The fMRI and functional connectivity analysis revealed that the upper midbrain significantly contributes to emotion regulation in humans. Moreover, differential functional interactions between the dopaminergic mesocorticolimbic system and frontoparietal networks mediate up and down emotion regulatory processes. Finally, these findings further indicate the potential of real-time fMRI feedback approach in guiding core affect regulation.

Mental Imagery and Brain Regulation-New Links Between Psychotherapy and Neuroscience

Mental imagery is a promising tool and mechanism of psychological interventions, particularly for mood and anxiety disorders. In parallel developments, neuromodulation techniques have shown promise as add-on therapies in psychiatry, particularly non-invasive brain stimulation for depression. However, these techniques have not yet been combined in a systematic manner. One novel technology that may be able to achieve this is neurofeedback, which entails the self-regulation of activation in specific brain areas or networks (or the self-modulation of distributed activation patterns) by the patients themselves, through real-time feedback of brain activation (for example, from functional magnetic resonance imaging). One of the key mechanisms by which patients learn such self-regulation is mental imagery. Here, we will first review the main mental imagery approaches in psychotherapy and the implicated brain networks. We will then discuss how these networks can be targeted with neuromodulation (neurofeedback or non-invasive or invasive brain stimulation). We will review the clinical evidence for neurofeedback and discuss possible ways of enhancing it through systematic combination with psychological interventions, with a focus on depression, anxiety disorders, and addiction. The overarching aim of this perspective paper will be to open a debate on new ways of developing neuropsychotherapies.

Neural correlates of up-regulating positive emotions in fMRI and their link to affect in daily life

Emotion regulation is typically used to down-regulate negative or up-regulate positive emotions. While there is considerable evidence for the neural correlates of the former, less is known about the neural correlates of the latter—and how they are associated with emotion regulation and affect in daily life. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were acquired from 63 healthy young participants (22 ± 1.6 years, 30 female), while they up-regulated their emotions to positive and neutral images or passively watched them. The same participants’ daily affect and emotion regulation behavior was measured using experience sampling over 10 days. Focusing on the ventral striatum (VS), previously associated with positive affective processing, we found increased activation during the up-regulation to both positive and neutral images. VS activation for the former positively correlated with between- and within-person differences in self-reported affective valence during fMRI but was not significantly associated with up-regulation in daily life. However, participants with lower daily affect showed a stronger association between changes in affect and activation in emotion-related (medial frontal and subcortical) regions—including the VS. These results support the involvement of the VS in up-regulating positive emotions and suggest a neurobehavioral link between emotion-related brain activation and daily affect.

The effects of psychiatric history and age on self-regulation of the default mode network

Real-time neurofeedback enables human subjects to learn to regulate their brain activity, effecting behavioral changes and improvements of psychiatric symptomatology. Neurofeedback up-regulation and down-regulation have been assumed to share common neural correlates. Neuropsychiatric pathology and aging incur suboptimal functioning of the default mode network. Despite the exponential increase in real-time neuroimaging studies, the effects of aging, pathology and the direction of regulation on neurofeedback performance remain largely unknown. Using real-time fMRI data shared through the Rockland Sample Real-Time Neurofeedback project (N = 136) and open-access analyses, we first modeled neurofeedback performance and learning in a group of subjects with psychiatric history (n_a = 74) and a healthy control group (n_b = 62). Subsequently, we examined the relationship between up-regulation and down-regulation learning, the relationship between age and neurofeedback performance in each group and differences in neurofeedback performance between the two groups. For interpretative purposes, we also investigated functional connectomics prior to neurofeedback. Results show that in an initial session of default mode network neurofeedback with real-time fMRI, up-regulation and down-regulation learning scores are negatively correlated. This finding is related to resting state differences in the eigenvector centrality of the posterior cingulate cortex. Moreover, age correlates negatively with default mode network neurofeedback performance, only in absence of psychiatric history. Finally, adults with psychiatric history outperform healthy controls in default mode network up-regulation. Interestingly, the performance difference is related to no up-regulation learning in controls. This finding is supported by marginally higher default mode network centrality during resting state, in the presence of psychiatric history.

Music enhances activity in the hypothalamus, brainstem, and anterior cerebellum during script-driven imagery of affective scenes

Music is frequently used to establish atmosphere and to enhance/alter emotion in dramas and films. During music listening, visual imagery is a common mechanism underlying emotion induction. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study examined the neural substrates of the emotional processing of music and imagined scene. A factorial design was used with factors emotion valence (positive; negative) and music (withoutMUSIC: script-driven imagery of emotional scenes; withMUSIC: script-driven imagery of emotional scenes and simultaneously listening to affectively congruent music). The baseline condition was imagery of neutral scenes in the absence of music. Eleven females and five males participated in this fMRI study. Behavioural data revealed that during scene imagery, participants' subjective emotions were significantly intensified by music. The contrasts of positive and negative withoutMUSIC conditions minus the baseline (imagery of neutral scenes) showed no significant activation. When comparing the withMUSIC to withoutMUSIC conditions, activity in a number of emotion-related regions was observed, including the temporal pole (TP), amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, anterior ventral tegmental area (VTA), locus coeruleus, and anterior cerebellum. We hypothesized that the TP may integrate music and the imagined scene to extract socioemotional significance, initiating the subcortical structures to generate subjective feelings and bodily responses. For the withMUSIC conditions, negative emotions were associated with enhanced activation in the posterior VTA compared to positive emotions. Our findings replicated and extended previous research which suggests that different subregions of the VTA are sensitive to rewarding and aversive stimuli. Taken together, this study suggests that emotional music embedded in an imagined scenario is a salient social signal that prompts preparation of approach/avoidance behaviours and emotional responses in listeners.

The vividness of imagining emotional feelings in positive situations is attenuated in non-clinical dysphoria and predicts the experience of positive emotional feelings

OBJECTIVE

The vividness of imagining emotional feelings in positive situations (EFP) in non-clinically dysphoric and non-dysphoric individuals and its relation to dysphoric and positive feelings was examined.

METHOD

Participants were university students in Study 1 (N = 106, 84 women; 18-45 years), in Study 2 (N = 43, 39 women; 20-47 years), in Study 3 (N = 109, 92 women; 18-50 years) who filled out a set of questionnaires assessing depressive symptoms, cognition measures, and then completed an affective imagery task, using a cross-sectional design.

RESULTS

Non-clinically dysphoric participants imagined less vividly EFP than non-dysphoric participants. The vividness of imagining EFP accounted for group differences in positive feelings beyond positive and negative cognition and negative mood.

CONCLUSIONS

In addition to deficits in the general imagery of positive events, the attenuation of vividness of EFP in non-clinical dysphoric individuals warrants attention as a separate pathway by which non-clinically dysphoric individuals develop deficiencies of conscious positive feelings.

Memory Control: A Fundamental Mechanism of Emotion Regulation

Memories play a ubiquitous role in our emotional lives, both causing vivid emotional experiences in their own right and imbuing perception of the external world with emotional significance. Controlling the emotional impact of memories therefore poses a major emotion-regulation challenge, suggesting that there might be a hitherto unexplored link between the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying memory control (MC) and emotion regulation. We present here a theoretical account of how the mechanisms of MC constitute core component processes of cognitive emotion regulation (CER), and how this observation may help to understand its basic mechanisms and their disruption in psychiatric disorders.

Distant from input: Evidence of regions within the default mode network supporting perceptually-decoupled and conceptually-guided cognition

The default mode network supports a variety of mental operations such as semantic processing, episodic memory retrieval, mental time travel and mind-wandering, yet the commonalities between these functions remains unclear. One possibility is that this system supports cognition that is independent of the immediate environment; alternatively or additionally, it might support higher-order conceptual representations that draw together multiple features. We tested these accounts using a novel paradigm that separately manipulated the availability of perceptual information to guide decision-making and the representational complexity of this information. Using task based imaging we established regions that respond when cognition combines both stimulus independence with multi-modal information. These included left and right angular gyri and the left middle temporal gyrus. Although these sites were within the default mode network, they showed a stronger response to demanding memory judgements than to an easier perceptual task, contrary to the view that they support automatic aspects of cognition. In a subsequent analysis, we showed that these regions were located at the extreme end of a macroscale gradient, which describes gradual transitions from sensorimotor to transmodal cortex. This shift in the focus of neural activity towards transmodal, default mode, regions might reflect a process of where the functional distance from specific sensory enables conceptually rich and detailed cognitive states to be generated in the absence of input.

Endogenous emotion generation ability is associated with the capacity to form multimodal internal representations

Training the capacity to self-generate emotions can be a potent "vaccine" against negative stressors and be an effective intervention for affective psychopathology. However, due to a lack of knowledge about sources of individual differences in generation abilities, it is unclear how to optimally design such interventions. We investigated one potential source of variation, namely preference for using different information modalities (Visual Imagery, Auditory Imagery, Bodily Interoception, and Semantic Analysis). A representative sample of 293 participants self-induced positive and negative emotional states, freely choosing to use these modalities singly or in combination. No evidence was found for modality usage being associated with differential efficacy at generating of positive or negative emotion. Rather, usage of all modalities (except Auditory Imagery) predicted success at generation of both positive and negative emotional states. Increasing age predicted capacity to generate, especially negative, emotions. While no specific combinations of modalities were superior, the overall degree to which participants adopted multimodal implementations did predict generation efficacy. These findings inform interventions aimed at improving emotional self-generation, suggesting these must be mindful of individual differences in generation abilities and implementation tendencies, and that they should focus on enhancing the capacity to use multiple modalities.