Effects of worry and evaluation stress on interhemispheric interaction

Theories of cognitive functioning in anxiety propose decreased processing efficiency associated with worry but have paid scant attention to possible neural mechanisms. This study examined interhemispheric processing in individuals differing in self-reported worry under high- and low-evaluative conditions. Measures of interhemispheric processing were letter-matching tasks, with matches occurring either within or across hemispheres and requiring either a physical identity (A-A) or a name identity match (A-a). Results indicated that the across-hemisphere advantage (AHA) for the more difficult name identity task was exaggerated under high-evaluative conditions, indicating that interhemispheric processing was especially beneficial under the processing load of evaluation stress. Regardless of task condition, high worriers displayed a reduced AHA compared with low worriers, reflecting ineffective coordination of interhemispheric resources in worriers.