Extinction Learning and Cognitive Reappraisal: Windows Into the Neurodevelopment of Emotion Regulation

Over the past two decades, interest in the development of emotion regulation has surged. In this review, I argue for the utility of contrasting the neurodevelopment of two distinct and powerful forms of emotion regulation: extinction learning and cognitive reappraisal. Using extinction learning and cognitive reappraisal as illustrative examples of implicit and explicit emotion regulation, respectively, I propose that these two forms develop on different timelines and use partially overlapping and partially distinct neural circuits in the brain. I then use this extinction/reappraisal framework to consider how experiences like early life stress may differentially shape distinct aspects of the neurodevelopment of emotion regulation. I conclude by raising questions for the field and suggesting directions to advance neurodevelopmental accounts of emotion regulation.