Neural substrate of the cognitive and emotional interference processing in healthy adolescents

Emotion regulation is essential for adaptive functioning and social integration. However, it is not clear to what extent the responsible brain mechanisms are similar to those invoked in cognitive control in a non-emotional context. The aim of this study was to compare the neural circuitry of cognitive and emotional interference resolution in healthy adolescents, employing variants of the counting Stroop task. Cognitive and emotional interference processing engaged predominantly brain regions belonging to the dorsal- and the ventral attentional systems, respectively, and commonly the inferior frontal gyrus, IFG (Broca's area, left BA 45, but also right BA 45). These results suggest that BA 45 is a bridge of interaction between the dorsal- and the ventral attentional systems implicated in top-down orienting of attention and, respectively, in bottom-up processing of salient stimuli. Reaction time data showed that some participants tend to respond faster, while others respond slower to negative emotional compared to neutral trials. The emotional interference maps revealed that fast responders recruit the right temporo-parietal junction and to a larger extent the right BA 45 and the bilateral cuneus, suggesting that they engage more efficient cognitive control mechanisms to override the attentional bias. No anterior cingulate (ACC) activation was observed in either cognitive, or emotional interference; this supports the view that ACC is not involved specifically in mediating Stroop selection.