# The Role of Autobiographical Memory in Late-Life Emotion Regulation

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST · 2022 · $40,464

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Emotion regulation becomes more cognitively challenging with age, yet older adults report greater well-being
than younger adults. Cognitive reappraisal- or reinterpreting the meaning of a stressful situation to reduce its
emotional impact- shows mixed findings in terms of efficacy and effort across age. Limited research has
investigated which preserved functions may promote success for demanding strategies such as reappraisal in
aging populations. We hypothesize that given an increased repertoire of emotional experiences across the
lifespan, access to rich and salient autobiographical memories may promote resilience and successful
reappraisal in late-life. The long-term goal of this research is to identify the mechanism by which healthy older
adults regulate their emotions to maintain well-being, in spite of cognitive decline. This will inform clinical
interventions for mood disorders and emotion dysregulation in aging. Our objective for this proposal is to
better track the role of autobiographical memory, a self-referential memory skill that is well preserved
with age, in reappraisal among older adults. We hypothesize that older adults will naturalistically reference
autobiographical memories with higher frequency than younger adults during reappraisal use, and that
autobiographical reappraisal will be less cognitive demanding than non-autobiographical reappraisal for this
age group. To investigate these questions, we aim (1) to determine the naturalistic use of autobiographical
memory in emotion regulation among younger and older adults (2) to assess the relative effort and efficacy
associated with autobiographical versus non-autobiographical reappraisal and (3) to determine the role of
cognitive control in autobiographical reappraisal. Under the first aim, we will qualitatively determine the
naturalistic frequency with which older and younger adults use self-referential language and autobiographical
memories in their reports of emotion regulation to negative images. Under the second aim we will investigate
the relative efficacy and cognitive effort associated with autobiographical reappraisal via eyetracking. Our third
aim will build on these findings by exploring the role of cognitive control in autobiographical and non-
autobiographical reappraisal. The proposed research seeks to develop clinical interventions that align and
build upon cognitive strengths and goals of elderly individuals, rather than utilizing interventions cognitively
optimized for younger and mid-life adults, promoting translational significance with novel emotion regulation
approaches. Specifically, utilizing self-referential autobiographical memory in traditional practices of cognitive
therapy may bolster intervention efficacy. The proposed study would build on theoretical significance by
taking an initial step in elucidating the underlying processes regarding preserved emotion regulation with age.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10327280
- **Project number:** 5F31AG069409-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
- **Principal Investigator:** Irina Orlovsky
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $40,464
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-02-01 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10327280

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10327280, The Role of Autobiographical Memory in Late-Life Emotion Regulation (5F31AG069409-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10327280. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*