Background: Threat-related attentional biases (ABs) in anxiety show considerable heterogeneity; there is evidence for hypervigilance to, and avoidance of threat. Taking the stimulus threat level...Show moreBackground: Threat-related attentional biases (ABs) in anxiety show considerable heterogeneity; there is evidence for hypervigilance to, and avoidance of threat. Taking the stimulus threat level and attentional control (AC) into account is thought to aid in explaining this heterogeneity. Prior work on the relations between these variables showed inconclusive results. Hypotheses: Trait anxiety levels, AC levels, and their interaction are associated with different patterns of AB scores, depending on the stimulus’s threat level. Methods: Fifty-two participants completed self-report measures of trait anxiety and AC and participated in a dot-probe task with neutral, mild threat, and high threat pictorial stimuli. Hypotheses were tested with rm ANOVAs and post-hoc correlation tests. Results: High trait anxiety was associated with hypervigilant AB to mild threat, but no association with AB to high threat was found. Low AC was related to more avoidance of high threat, but not to AB to mild threat. AC did not moderate the relationship between trait anxiety and threat-level dependent AB. Discussion and Conclusions: These findings confirm that threat level influences threat-related ABs in anxiety. While this relationship was not further influenced by individual differences in AC, the role AC on its own plays in threat-level dependent ABs is supported.Show less
Steroid hormones are frequently highlighted as an important modulator of women’s susceptibility for developing mood and anxiety disorders. One of the often-considered influences is the effect of...Show moreSteroid hormones are frequently highlighted as an important modulator of women’s susceptibility for developing mood and anxiety disorders. One of the often-considered influences is the effect of estradiol on the dopaminergic activity in the prefrontal cortex. Given this association it was investigated if natural levels of estradiol might affect women’s executive functions. The focus of measurement was the participant’s performance on the flanker task. It was hypothesised that women in a menstrual cycle phase marked by high estradiol show enhanced interference control and post-error adjustment. The study was conducted as an observational, natural group design and executed in an online format. Self-reports on the menstrual cycle were used for an approximation of the women’s current estradiol levels based on which two groups of women, either high or low in estradiol, were created. Main comparisons were made between 29 naturally cycling women in total and 48 men. The outcomes suggest that the cycle phase of women and the assumed levels of estradiol may not have influenced the processes of interference control or post-error adjustment. To interpret the obtained results, the measured constructs, interference control, error monitoring, and the menstrual cycle are discussed, and possible uncontrolled variables outlined. Future research is needed to further explore women’s executive processes and related neural correlates in the context of the menstrual cycle. Research in this field may provide better understanding of possible influences on women’s cognitive and emotional circuits in the brain, which will help to achieve a clearer picture of women’s psychological wellbeing throughout their life span.Show less
Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been associated with impairments across cognitive abilities. While some prior work suggests that the PTSD symptom domain of intrusion may be...Show moreBackground: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been associated with impairments across cognitive abilities. While some prior work suggests that the PTSD symptom domain of intrusion may be most strongly related to cognitive impairment, little is known about the relation of cognitive functioning with individual PTSD symptoms or other symptom domains, and the temporal stability of such relations. The current study addresses these questions. Methods: Data were analysed from 1,484 trauma-exposed U.S. military veterans (Mdn=65 years) who participated in the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study (NHRVS). We estimated four regularised partial correlation networks of DSM-5 PTSD symptoms at baseline (past month or lifetime) and cognitive functioning at baseline and three-year follow-up, respectively. Network comparison tests examined temporal stability, and sensitivity analyses the robustness of the associations. Results: Across network models, difficulty concentrating and trouble experiencing positive feelings consistently showed unique negative relations to cognitive functioning. Contrary to expectations, the symptom domains of alterations in arousal and reactivity, as well as cognition and mood were more strongly linked to cognitive functioning than the other two domains. Network structures and overall strength did not significantly differ between cross-sectional and longitudinal networks. Conclusion: Overall, we highlight the importance of links between PTSD symptoms and symptom domains on the one hand, and cognitive functioning on the other—relations obfuscated by modelling only PTSD diagnosis or sum score. Given that longitudinal processes between the two constructs appear to be present, we recommend monitoring of cognitive functioning and integrating it into clinical care of PTSD.Show less
Emerging evidence indicates that rumination, a core feature of depression, might be responsible for the compromised working-memory (WM) observed in this disorder. The current study aims to explore...Show moreEmerging evidence indicates that rumination, a core feature of depression, might be responsible for the compromised working-memory (WM) observed in this disorder. The current study aims to explore the neural underpinnings of this hypothesized effect by investigating the role of three brain networks using fMRI: the Default Mode Network (DMN; involved in self-referential thought and rumination), the Central Executive Network (CEN; involved in executive cognition and WM), and the Salience Network (SN; involved in detection of novel or relevant stimuli and subsequent prioritizing of functional neural networks). After rumination-induction in thirty-three healthy female participants, functional connectivity within the three networks was measured during a 2-back WM task, which alternated between active and resting blocks. As expected, the DMN showed increased connectivity during the resting blocks, the CEN showed increased connectivity during the active blocks, and the SN showed higher connectivity in the beginning of the active blocks than during the remaining time of the active blocks. As hypothesized, self-reported rumination was correlated with lower SN functional connectivity in the beginning of the active blocks and a slower disengagement of the DMN. CEN functional connectivity showed no significant association with rumination. These results might reflect rumination-related difficulties in re-directing cognitive resources from self-referential thoughts to external stimuli, which may arise due to the weak mapping of external stimuli. The current findings expand understanding of the brain mechanisms underlying the effects of rumination on executive function and indicate that future research should further explore the interactions between these three networks.Show less
Background: Emotion regulation is part of our everyday executive functioning. Mood disorders such as bipolar disorder or depression are associated with dysfunctional emotion regulation. A...Show moreBackground: Emotion regulation is part of our everyday executive functioning. Mood disorders such as bipolar disorder or depression are associated with dysfunctional emotion regulation. A physiological measure of emotion regulation is heart rate (HR). People tend to show HR decrease to emotional stimuli, this is called bradycardia. Frontal-Theta/Beta-ratio (TBR) has shown to be a potential biomarker for multiple executive functions. In most frontal-TBR studies, a reversed correlation between frontal-TBR and level of executive functioning is found. Objective: The current study investigated if frontal-TBR plays a moderating role for emotion regulation of negative and positive stimuli. It was expected that low frontal-TBR would correlate with less fear-bradycardia and that low frontal-TBR would lead to better regulation of negative and positive stimuli. Methods: An emotion regulation task was used to induce physiological responses in participants. Participants (n=56) viewed 40 negative, 40 neutral and 40 positive pictures and were asked to attend or upregulate their emotional affect. Their physiological response was measured using ECG. Frontal-TBR was measured using EEG. Results: Against the hypotheses, results showed no moderating role for frontal-TBR on physiological reaction to positive or negative stimuli. There was a weaker fear-bradycardia than expected and no positive-bradycardia was found. Discussion: The absence of strong bradycardia in our sample blocks possibilities for a moderating role of frontal-TBR on emotion regulation. The results can be due to factors such as data collection method, stimuli selection or male/female distribution. Future studies should focus on replicating the frontal-TBR effects on emotion regulation of negative stimuli.Show less
