EEG Evidence of Acute Stress Enhancing Inhibition Control by Increasing Attention

Research about the impact of acute stress on inhibitory control remains a contentious topic, with no consensus reached thus far. This study aims to investigate the effects of acute stress on an individual's inhibitory control abilities and to elucidate the underlying neural mechanisms by analyzing resting state electroencephalogram (EEG) data.

We recruited 32 male college students through participant recruitment information to undergo within-subject experiments under stress and non-stress conditions. Physiological indicators (cortisol and heart rate), self-report questionnaires, and behavioral data from the Stroop task were collected before, during, and after the experiment. Additionally, a five-minute eyes closed resting state EEG data collection was conducted during the Stroop task before.

(1) Acute stress led to a reduction in the conflict effect during the participants' Stroop task in individuals. (2) Stress resulted in an increase in the power of the beta in the resting state EEG. (3) Acute stress caused an increase in the duration of class D and an increase in the transition probabilities from classes C and B to class D in the microstates of the resting state EEG. (4) Acute stress leads to an increase in beta power values in individuals' resting state EEGs, which is significantly negatively correlated with the reduction of the conflict effect in the Stroop task under stress.

Acute stress can enhance individuals' attentional level, thereby promoting inhibitory control performance.