Intra-individual variability identifies individuals vulnerable to contextually induced executive lapses

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Neuroscience
• Gerontology

Background:

• Contextual stressors, like expressive suppression (ES), can temporarily impair executive functioning (EF).
• Intra-individual variability in performance (IIV-I) is an emerging indicator of cognitive weakness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if IIV-I serves as a marker for vulnerability to EF decrements caused by ES.
• To examine the relationship between naturally occurring and experimentally induced ES and EF, moderated by IIV-I.

Main Methods:

• Study 1: 180 healthy older adults completed tasks assessing IIV-I, EF, and naturally occurring ES.
• Study 2: 81 participants underwent experimental manipulation to induce ES, followed by EF re-assessment.
• Statistical analyses included hierarchical linear regression and repeated measures ANOVA.

Main Results:

• High ES was linked to low EF solely in individuals with high IIV-I (Study 1).
• Experimental ES induction negatively impacted EF only in participants with high IIV-I (Study 2).
• IIV-I significantly moderated the negative association between ES and EF.

Conclusions:

• IIV-I acts as a vulnerability marker for temporary EF depletion due to ES.
• Individuals with high IIV-I are particularly susceptible to cognitive performance decrements under stress.