Acute stress impacts reaction times in older but not in young adults in a flanker task
Abstract Acute psychosocial stress effects on inhibition have been investigated in young adults, but little is known about these effects in older adults. The present study investigated effects of the Trier Social Stress Test on cognitive inhibition (i.e., ability to ignore distracting information) u...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2023-10-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-44356-4 |
| _version_ | 1797560260962025472 |
|---|---|
| author | Greta Mikneviciute Jens Allaert Matias M. Pulopulos Rudi De Raedt Matthias Kliegel Nicola Ballhausen |
| author_facet | Greta Mikneviciute Jens Allaert Matias M. Pulopulos Rudi De Raedt Matthias Kliegel Nicola Ballhausen |
| author_sort | Greta Mikneviciute |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Acute psychosocial stress effects on inhibition have been investigated in young adults, but little is known about these effects in older adults. The present study investigated effects of the Trier Social Stress Test on cognitive inhibition (i.e., ability to ignore distracting information) using a cross-over (stress vs. control) design in healthy young (N = 50; 18–30 years; M age = 23.06) versus older adults (N = 50; 65–84 years; M age = 71.12). Cognitive inhibition was measured by a letter flanker task and psychophysiological measures (cortisol, heart rate, subjective stress) validated the stress induction. The results showed that while stress impaired overall accuracy across age groups and sessions, stress (vs. control) made older adults’ faster in session 1 and slower in session 2. Given that session 2 effects were likely confounded by practice effects, these results suggest that acute psychosocial stress improved older adults’ RTs on a novel flanker task but impaired RTs on a practiced flanker task. That is, the interaction between stress and learning effects might negatively affect response execution when testing older adults on flanker tasks. If confirmed by future research, these results might have important implications especially in settings where repeated cognitive testing is performed under acute stress. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:56:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6160549ccc0f41f18bf9131f7811b58c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:56:56Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-6160549ccc0f41f18bf9131f7811b58c2023-11-20T09:08:35ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222023-10-0113111110.1038/s41598-023-44356-4Acute stress impacts reaction times in older but not in young adults in a flanker taskGreta Mikneviciute0Jens Allaert1Matias M. Pulopulos2Rudi De Raedt3Matthias Kliegel4Nicola Ballhausen5NCCR LIVES–Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives, Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research, University of GenevaDepartment of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent UniversityDepartment of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent UniversityDepartment of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent UniversityNCCR LIVES–Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives, Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research, University of GenevaCentre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Gerontology and Vulnerability, University of GenevaAbstract Acute psychosocial stress effects on inhibition have been investigated in young adults, but little is known about these effects in older adults. The present study investigated effects of the Trier Social Stress Test on cognitive inhibition (i.e., ability to ignore distracting information) using a cross-over (stress vs. control) design in healthy young (N = 50; 18–30 years; M age = 23.06) versus older adults (N = 50; 65–84 years; M age = 71.12). Cognitive inhibition was measured by a letter flanker task and psychophysiological measures (cortisol, heart rate, subjective stress) validated the stress induction. The results showed that while stress impaired overall accuracy across age groups and sessions, stress (vs. control) made older adults’ faster in session 1 and slower in session 2. Given that session 2 effects were likely confounded by practice effects, these results suggest that acute psychosocial stress improved older adults’ RTs on a novel flanker task but impaired RTs on a practiced flanker task. That is, the interaction between stress and learning effects might negatively affect response execution when testing older adults on flanker tasks. If confirmed by future research, these results might have important implications especially in settings where repeated cognitive testing is performed under acute stress.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-44356-4 |
| spellingShingle | Greta Mikneviciute Jens Allaert Matias M. Pulopulos Rudi De Raedt Matthias Kliegel Nicola Ballhausen Acute stress impacts reaction times in older but not in young adults in a flanker task Scientific Reports |
| title | Acute stress impacts reaction times in older but not in young adults in a flanker task |
| title_full | Acute stress impacts reaction times in older but not in young adults in a flanker task |
| title_fullStr | Acute stress impacts reaction times in older but not in young adults in a flanker task |
| title_full_unstemmed | Acute stress impacts reaction times in older but not in young adults in a flanker task |
| title_short | Acute stress impacts reaction times in older but not in young adults in a flanker task |
| title_sort | acute stress impacts reaction times in older but not in young adults in a flanker task |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-44356-4 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gretamikneviciute acutestressimpactsreactiontimesinolderbutnotinyoungadultsinaflankertask AT jensallaert acutestressimpactsreactiontimesinolderbutnotinyoungadultsinaflankertask AT matiasmpulopulos acutestressimpactsreactiontimesinolderbutnotinyoungadultsinaflankertask AT rudideraedt acutestressimpactsreactiontimesinolderbutnotinyoungadultsinaflankertask AT matthiaskliegel acutestressimpactsreactiontimesinolderbutnotinyoungadultsinaflankertask AT nicolaballhausen acutestressimpactsreactiontimesinolderbutnotinyoungadultsinaflankertask |