Effect of Acute Psychological Stress on Speed Perception: An Event-Related Potential Study

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Psychophysiology
• Human Perception

Background:

• Understanding how acute psychological stress impacts cognitive functions like speed perception is crucial.
• Event-related potentials (ERPs) offer insights into the neural mechanisms underlying these effects.
• Previous research suggests stress modulates attention and cognitive resource allocation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of acute psychological stress on speed perception using behavioral and electrophysiological measures.
• To examine how different types of motion (constant speed, acceleration, deceleration) are perceived under stress.
• To elucidate the neural correlates of stress-induced changes in attention and cognitive processing during speed judgments.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a mental arithmetic task to induce acute psychological stress.
• Employed a light spot task to assess speed perception across different motion types (constant speed, uniform acceleration, uniform deceleration).
• Measured behavioral responses (reaction time, accuracy) and electroencephalography (EEG) to record event-related potentials (ERPs), including N2 and slow wave (SW).

Main Results:

• Uniform deceleration judgments were faster and more accurate, associated with higher/later attention control and specific ERP patterns (longer N2 latency, larger N2 amplitude, lower SW amplitude) in the absence of stress.
• Under stress, reaction times shortened, N2 amplitude and SW mean amplitude increased, and attention control improved and appeared earlier, indicating greater cognitive resource investment.
• An interaction between motion type and stress was observed: under stress, uniform deceleration judgments showed lower N2 peak latency, higher attention control, and later peak attention.

Conclusions:

• Judgments of decelerating motion demand fewer cognitive resources compared to other motion types, particularly under acute stress.
• Acute stress enhances attention control and cognitive resource allocation during speed perception, with differential effects depending on motion type.
• The findings support an interpretation based on the interaction between arousal and attention in modulating cognitive performance under stress.