Increase in Beta Power Reflects Attentional Top-Down Modulation After Psychosocial Stress Induction

Journal
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
ISSN
1662-5161
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Ismael Palacios-García
Mario Villena-González
Germán Campos-Arteaga
Claudio Artigas-Vergara
Nicolas Luarte
Eugenio Rodríguez
Conrado A. Bosman
Type
Resource Types::text::journal::journal article
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85103773593
WoS ID
WOS:000636838800001
DOI
URL
URL Institutional Repository
Abstract
<jats:p>Selective attention depends on goal-directed and stimulus-driven modulatory factors, each relayed by different brain rhythms. Under certain circumstances, stress-related states can change the balance between goal-directed and stimulus-driven factors. However, the neuronal mechanisms underlying these changes remain unclear. In this study, we explored how psychosocial stress can modulate brain rhythms during an attentional task and a task-free period. We recorded the EEG and ECG activity of 42 healthy participants subjected to either the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), a controlled procedure to induce stress, or a comparable control protocol (same physical and cognitive effort but without the stress component), flanked by an attentional task, a 90 s of task-free period and a state of anxiety questionnaire. We observed that psychosocial stress induced an increase in heart rate (HR), self-reported anxiety, and alpha power synchronization. Also, psychosocial stress evoked a relative beta power increase during correct trials of the attentional task, which correlates positively with anxiety and heart rate increase, and inversely with attentional accuracy. These results suggest that psychosocial stress affects performance by redirecting attentional resources toward internal threat-related thoughts. An increment of endogenous top-down modulation reflected an increased beta-band activity that may serve as a compensatory mechanism to redirect attentional resources toward the ongoing task. The data obtained here may contribute to designing new ways of clinical management of the human stress response in the future and could help to minimize the damaging effects of persistent stressful experiences.</jats:p>
Cite this document
Palacios-García, I., Silva, J., Villena-González, M., Campos-Arteaga, G., Artigas-Vergara, C., Luarte, N., Rodríguez, E., & Bosman, C. A. (2021). Increase in beta power reflects attentional top-down modulation after psychosocial stress induction. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 15, 630813. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2021.630813
Project(s)
Subjects
anxiety

; 

heart rate (hr)

; 

attentional control

; 

beta band frequency

; 

psychosocial stress

; 

adult

; 

anxiety

; 

article

; 

clinical article

; 

controlled study

; 

electrocardiogram

; 

electroencephalogram

; 

female

; 

heart rate

; 

human

; 

male

; 

mental stress

; 

questionnaire

; 

trier social stress test