Roxburgh Ariel D, Hughes Matthew E, Cornwell Brian R
Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia.
Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia.
Biol Psychol. 2019 May;144:99-102. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.03.009. Epub 2019 Apr 1.
Growing evidence indicates that anxiety impairs cognitive control processes, including inhibitory functioning. However, there are reports of anxiety state-related improvements in response inhibition performance in a go/nogo (GNG) task. Here we employed the stop-signal task (SST) to examine in complementary fashion the link between anticipatory anxiety and inhibitory control. Participants (N = 45) completed the SST under threat of unpredictable shocks and safe conditions while physiological activity (skin conductance and heart rate) was monitored. In addition to increased physiological activity, we found that stop-signal reaction time (SSRT), a robust measure of stopping efficiency, was prolonged during threat compared to safe without any difference in choice reaction times to go stimuli. This finding supports the claim of impaired inhibitory control in anxiety, and by consideration of differences between the SST and GNG tasks, can be reconciled with evidence of improved response inhibition on the latter under similar threat conditions.
越来越多的证据表明，焦虑会损害认知控制过程，包括抑制功能。然而，有报告称在“是/否”（GNG）任务中，焦虑状态会使反应抑制表现得到改善。在这里，我们采用停止信号任务（SST）以互补的方式来检验预期焦虑与抑制控制之间的联系。参与者（N = 45）在不可预测的电击威胁和安全条件下完成SST，同时监测生理活动（皮肤电导率和心率）。除了生理活动增加外，我们还发现，作为停止效率的有力指标，停止信号反应时间（SSRT）在威胁期间比安全期间延长，而对“继续”刺激的选择反应时间没有差异。这一发现支持了焦虑中抑制控制受损的说法，并且通过考虑SST和GNG任务之间的差异，可以与在类似威胁条件下后者反应抑制改善的证据相协调。
