An ERP study characterizing how trait anxiety modulates proactive and reactive response inhibition independent of different emotional contexts.
Huawei He, Han Gao, Xiaoke Xie, You Wang, Ruibin Zhang
Author Information
Huawei He: Laboratory of Cognitive Control and Brain Healthy, Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.
Han Gao: Laboratory of Cognitive Control and Brain Healthy, Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.
Xiaoke Xie: Laboratory of Cognitive Control and Brain Healthy, Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China.
You Wang: Laboratory of Cognitive Control and Brain Healthy, Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China; Department of Psychiatry, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China. Electronic address: wangyoupsy@foxmail.com.
Ruibin Zhang: Laboratory of Cognitive Control and Brain Healthy, Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China; Department of Psychiatry, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China; Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory for Psychiatric Disorders, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine for Qingzhi Diseases, Southern Medcal University, Guangzhou, PR China. Electronic address: ruibinzhang@foxmail.com.
BACKGROUND: Human's response inhibition could be classified as proactive (top-down) and reactive (bottom-up) inhibition process. Although trait anxiety has been proposed to alter an individual's response inhibition, whether and how it modulates the proactive and reactive response inhibition processes in different emotional contexts remains unclear. METHODS: We combined an adapted emotional Stop-Signal Task with high-temporal resolution electrophysiological recordings to compare the results of high and low trait anxiety participants. RESULTS: At the behavioral level, no significant differences were found between high and low trait anxiety individuals in either proactive or reactive inhibition. However, the event-related potential analysis suggested that although trait anxiety might affect early object recognition, indicated by a greater P2 amplitude, high trait anxiety individuals may exhibit intact proactive inhibition but impaired reactive inhibition, signified by a delayed P3 peak latency. In addition, behavioral and event-related potential analyses revealed that negative emotional context impaired reactive inhibition independent of the effect of trait anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Trait anxiety impairs reactive inhibition but not proactive inhibition independently of neutral or negative emotional contexts.
