Frontal Midline Theta Oscillations during Mental Arithmetic: Effects of Stress
Complex cognitive tasks such as mental arithmetic heavily rely on intact, well-coordinated prefrontal cortex (PFC) function. Converging evidence suggests that frontal midline theta (FMT) oscillations play an important role during the execution of such PFC-dependent tasks. Additionally, it is well-es...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2015-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00096/full |
| _version_ | 1828861694890213376 |
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| author | Matti eGärtner Matti eGärtner Simone eGrimm Simone eGrimm Simone eGrimm Malek eBajbouj |
| author_facet | Matti eGärtner Matti eGärtner Simone eGrimm Simone eGrimm Simone eGrimm Malek eBajbouj |
| author_sort | Matti eGärtner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Complex cognitive tasks such as mental arithmetic heavily rely on intact, well-coordinated prefrontal cortex (PFC) function. Converging evidence suggests that frontal midline theta (FMT) oscillations play an important role during the execution of such PFC-dependent tasks. Additionally, it is well-established that acute stress impairs PFC function, and recent evidence suggests that FMT is decreased under stress. In this EEG study, we investigated FMT oscillations during a mental arithmetic task that was carried out in a stressful and a neutral control condition. Our results show late-onset, sustained FMT increases during mental arithmetic. In the neutral condition FMT started to increase earlier than in the stress condition. Direct comparison of the conditions quantified this difference by showing stronger FMT increases in the neutral condition in an early time window. Between-subject correlation analysis showed that attenuated FMT under stress was related to slowed reaction times. Our results suggest that FMT is associated with stimulus independent mental processes during the natural and complex PFC-dependent task of mental arithmetic, and is a possible marker for intact PFC function that is disrupted under stress. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T03:06:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9ae245d8b53340e8bd246eafe4eab70b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5153 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T03:06:47Z |
| publishDate | 2015-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-9ae245d8b53340e8bd246eafe4eab70b2022-12-22T00:01:41ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532015-04-01910.3389/fnbeh.2015.00096133588Frontal Midline Theta Oscillations during Mental Arithmetic: Effects of StressMatti eGärtner0Matti eGärtner1Simone eGrimm2Simone eGrimm3Simone eGrimm4Malek eBajbouj5Freie Universität BerlinCharitéFreie Universität BerlinCharitéUniversity of ZürichCharitéComplex cognitive tasks such as mental arithmetic heavily rely on intact, well-coordinated prefrontal cortex (PFC) function. Converging evidence suggests that frontal midline theta (FMT) oscillations play an important role during the execution of such PFC-dependent tasks. Additionally, it is well-established that acute stress impairs PFC function, and recent evidence suggests that FMT is decreased under stress. In this EEG study, we investigated FMT oscillations during a mental arithmetic task that was carried out in a stressful and a neutral control condition. Our results show late-onset, sustained FMT increases during mental arithmetic. In the neutral condition FMT started to increase earlier than in the stress condition. Direct comparison of the conditions quantified this difference by showing stronger FMT increases in the neutral condition in an early time window. Between-subject correlation analysis showed that attenuated FMT under stress was related to slowed reaction times. Our results suggest that FMT is associated with stimulus independent mental processes during the natural and complex PFC-dependent task of mental arithmetic, and is a possible marker for intact PFC function that is disrupted under stress.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00096/fullEEGMental arithmeticacute stressprefrontal cortex (PFC)frontal midline theta |
| spellingShingle | Matti eGärtner Matti eGärtner Simone eGrimm Simone eGrimm Simone eGrimm Malek eBajbouj Frontal Midline Theta Oscillations during Mental Arithmetic: Effects of Stress Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience EEG Mental arithmetic acute stress prefrontal cortex (PFC) frontal midline theta |
| title | Frontal Midline Theta Oscillations during Mental Arithmetic: Effects of Stress |
| title_full | Frontal Midline Theta Oscillations during Mental Arithmetic: Effects of Stress |
| title_fullStr | Frontal Midline Theta Oscillations during Mental Arithmetic: Effects of Stress |
| title_full_unstemmed | Frontal Midline Theta Oscillations during Mental Arithmetic: Effects of Stress |
| title_short | Frontal Midline Theta Oscillations during Mental Arithmetic: Effects of Stress |
| title_sort | frontal midline theta oscillations during mental arithmetic effects of stress |
| topic | EEG Mental arithmetic acute stress prefrontal cortex (PFC) frontal midline theta |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00096/full |
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