The Posterior Cingulate Cortex Reflects the Impact of Anxiety on Drift Rates During Cognitive Processing

Generally, anxiety is thought to impair ongoing cognitive operations. Surprisingly, however, anxiety has been shown to improve performance during the Go/NoGo task. Understanding how anxiety can facilitate task performance may shed light on avenues to address the cognitive deficits commonly associated with anxiety.

A total of 39 participants (mean age ± SD = 27.5 ± 7.22 years; 18 women) performed a Go/NoGo task during periods of safety and periods of experimental anxiety, induced using the unpredictable delivery of aversive stimuli. Computational analysis and ultrahigh field (7T) functional magnetic resonance imaging were used to determine how induced anxiety affected computational processes and blood oxygen level-dependent responses during the task.

Induced anxiety improved accuracy during the Go/NoGo task. Induced anxiety was associated with an amplified drift rate process, which is thought to reflect increased informational uptake. In addition, changes in drift rate during the anxiety condition were associated with enhanced blood oxygen level-dependent responses within the posterior cingulate cortex during Go trials.

These results may reflect the impact of induced anxiety on the activity of neurons within the posterior cingulate cortex, whose activity patterns mimic the buildup of evidence accumulation. Collectively, these results shed light on the mechanisms underlying facilitated task performance and suggest that anxiety can improve cognitive processing by enhancing information uptake and increasing activity within the posterior cingulate cortex.