Neural Processing of Cognitive Control in an Emotionally Neutral Context in Anxiety Patients
Impaired cognitive control plays a crucial role in anxiety disorders and is associated with deficient neural mechanisms in the fronto-parietal network. Usually, these deficits were found in tasks with an emotional context. The present study aimed at investigating electrophysiological and vascular si...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/5/543 |
| _version_ | 1797536240113811456 |
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| author | Nicola König Sarah Steber Anna Borowski Harald R. Bliem Sonja Rossi |
| author_facet | Nicola König Sarah Steber Anna Borowski Harald R. Bliem Sonja Rossi |
| author_sort | Nicola König |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Impaired cognitive control plays a crucial role in anxiety disorders and is associated with deficient neural mechanisms in the fronto-parietal network. Usually, these deficits were found in tasks with an emotional context. The present study aimed at investigating electrophysiological and vascular signatures from event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in anxiety patients versus healthy controls during an inhibition task integrated in an emotionally neutral context. Neural markers were acquired during the completion of a classical Eriksen flanker task. The focus of data analysis has been the ERPs N200 and P300 and fNIRS activations in addition to task performance. No behavioral or neural group differences were identified. ERP findings showed a larger N2pc and a delayed and reduced P300 for incongruent stimuli. The N2pc modulation suggests the reorienting of attention to salient stimuli, while the P300 indicates longer lasting stimulus evaluation processes due to increased task difficulty. FNIRS did not result in any significant activation potentially suggesting a contribution from deeper brain areas not measurable with fNIRS. The missing group difference in our non-emotional task indicates that no generalized cognitive control deficit but rather a more emotionally driven deficit is present in anxiety patients. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:56:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3d8eb6e5ab074892bf3646b554e3aca1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:56:50Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-3d8eb6e5ab074892bf3646b554e3aca12023-11-21T17:12:57ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252021-04-0111554310.3390/brainsci11050543Neural Processing of Cognitive Control in an Emotionally Neutral Context in Anxiety PatientsNicola König0Sarah Steber1Anna Borowski2Harald R. Bliem3Sonja Rossi4ICONE-Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Department for Hearing, Speech and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaICONE-Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Department for Hearing, Speech and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaICONE-Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Department for Hearing, Speech and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaDepartment of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, Innrain 52f, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaICONE-Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Department for Hearing, Speech and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaImpaired cognitive control plays a crucial role in anxiety disorders and is associated with deficient neural mechanisms in the fronto-parietal network. Usually, these deficits were found in tasks with an emotional context. The present study aimed at investigating electrophysiological and vascular signatures from event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in anxiety patients versus healthy controls during an inhibition task integrated in an emotionally neutral context. Neural markers were acquired during the completion of a classical Eriksen flanker task. The focus of data analysis has been the ERPs N200 and P300 and fNIRS activations in addition to task performance. No behavioral or neural group differences were identified. ERP findings showed a larger N2pc and a delayed and reduced P300 for incongruent stimuli. The N2pc modulation suggests the reorienting of attention to salient stimuli, while the P300 indicates longer lasting stimulus evaluation processes due to increased task difficulty. FNIRS did not result in any significant activation potentially suggesting a contribution from deeper brain areas not measurable with fNIRS. The missing group difference in our non-emotional task indicates that no generalized cognitive control deficit but rather a more emotionally driven deficit is present in anxiety patients.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/5/543event-related brain potentials (ERPs)functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)N200P300flanker taskcognitive control |
| spellingShingle | Nicola König Sarah Steber Anna Borowski Harald R. Bliem Sonja Rossi Neural Processing of Cognitive Control in an Emotionally Neutral Context in Anxiety Patients Brain Sciences event-related brain potentials (ERPs) functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) N200 P300 flanker task cognitive control |
| title | Neural Processing of Cognitive Control in an Emotionally Neutral Context in Anxiety Patients |
| title_full | Neural Processing of Cognitive Control in an Emotionally Neutral Context in Anxiety Patients |
| title_fullStr | Neural Processing of Cognitive Control in an Emotionally Neutral Context in Anxiety Patients |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neural Processing of Cognitive Control in an Emotionally Neutral Context in Anxiety Patients |
| title_short | Neural Processing of Cognitive Control in an Emotionally Neutral Context in Anxiety Patients |
| title_sort | neural processing of cognitive control in an emotionally neutral context in anxiety patients |
| topic | event-related brain potentials (ERPs) functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) N200 P300 flanker task cognitive control |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/5/543 |
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