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Updated: May 1, 2026

Assessment of Stress Effects on Cognitive Flexibility using an Operant Strategy Shifting Paradigm
Published on: May 4, 2020
Working memory-related frontal theta activity is decreased under acute stress
Matti Gärtner1, Lea Rohde-Liebenau2, Simone Grimm3
1Cluster of Excellence "Languages of Emotion", Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Charité CBF, Klinik und Hochschulambulanz für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, 14050 Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
Acute stress impairs prefrontal cortex (PFC) function and has detrimental effects on working memory (WM) performance. Converging evidence from electrophysiological studies suggests a close link between WM processes and frontal theta (FT) activity (4-8 Hz). However, the effect of stress on WM-related FT activity has not been investigated yet. To shed light on this topic we acquired EEG data from 31 healthy male subjects who underwent a stressful and a neutral control condition. In both conditions, they performed an n-back WM task at two different difficulty levels. Our results showed that WM-related FT activity was decreased under stress. Behaviorally, we found performance impairments under stress in the difficult task condition that were related to FT decreases. Increased cortisol levels indicated a successful moderate stress induction. These findings indicate that FT is a potential neurobiological marker for intact PFC functioning during WM and further supports the recently made assumption that FT acts in the PFC to optimize performance.
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