Cognitive control under distressing emotional stimulation in adolescents with conduct disorder

Abstract

Aggressive behavior has been linked to deficient processing of emotional stimulation and recent studies indicate that in aggressive juveniles executive functions are impaired when distressing emotional stimulation is being processed. This study examines the interrelation of distressing emotional stimulation and cognitive control in aggressive adolescents and healthy controls. We combined a color-word Stroop test with pictures from the International Affective Picture System with either neutral or distressing emotional content to assess Stroop interference under neutral and distressing emotional stimulation in 20 male reactive aggressive patients with conduct disorder (CD) and 20 age-matched male control participants. We found impaired Stroop performance under distressing emotional stimulation in patients compared to healthy controls. No difference was present under neutral emotional stimulation. Our results indicate that cognitive control under distressing emotional stimulation was affected in adolescents with CD but not in healthy controls. We conclude that executive functions in reactive aggressive CD patients are more susceptible to the deleterious effects of distressing emotional stimulation. The results provide a possible explanation for pathologic impulsive-aggressive behavior under emotional distress in CD patients.

Altered Neuronal Responses During an Affective Stroop Task in Adolescents With Conduct Disorder

“…Contrary to our hypothesis and some previous investigations ( Rubia et al, 2009b ; Euler et al, 2014 ; Prateeksha et al, 2014 ) we did not detect group differences in RTs. However, research has not been conclusive to date and the present finding is in accordance with other studies ( Banich et al, 2007 ; Rubia et al, 2008 , 2009a , 2010b ).…”

“…Faster responses at the expense of lower accuracy may be due to heightened stress-related anxiety ( Panayiotou and Vrana, 2004 ; Kosinski, 2008 ). Moreover, in line with Rubia et al (2009a) , CD youths made more errors than TD, which is contrary to other reports in DBD and TD ( Banich et al, 2007 ; Rubia et al, 2008 , 2010b ; Euler et al, 2014 ; Prateeksha et al, 2014 ).…”

“…For further specifications on the task design see section “fMRI Task: The Affective Stroop Task”). Using both region of interest and whole-brain approaches, we hypothesized (I) to observe emotion × task interactions for the Stroop effect (i.e., delayed RTs for trials with increased cognitive load and prior negative stimulation) in CD compared to TD youths, in line with previous work ( Euler et al, 2014 ); (II) to detect reduced neuronal activity within brain regions involved in emotion processing and response inhibition (amygdala, insula, and vmPFC) during the affective Stroop task in CD relative to TD youths in line with previous findings ( Hwang et al, 2016 ).…”

Distinct profiles of reactive and proactive aggression in adolescents: associations with cognitive and affective empathy

“…We based our assumption on the specific characteristics of reactive aggression. Reactive-aggressive individuals are characterized by impaired emotion regulation [46] and reduced cognitive control under emotional stimulation [47]. Our results support a recent study showing that proactive but not reactive aggression is negatively associated with feelings of guilt in children [36].…”

Top-Down Dysregulation—From ADHD to Emotional Instability

“…Interestingly, in most studies involving patients with BPD in which an emotional conflict must be suppressed, increased activity in amygdala or insula (compared with controls) has been observed, indicating unresolved or heightened emotional conflict (Silbersweig et al, 2007 ; Krause-Utz et al, 2012 ; Holtmann et al, 2013 ; Jacob et al, 2013 ; Prehn et al, 2013 )—but see Smoski et al ( 2011 ). In line with these findings a behavioral study has shown that patients with CD have an impaired Stroop performance under distressing emotional stimulation but no difference under neutral emotional stimulation as compared to controls (Euler et al, 2014 ). Thus this generalizes the above findings for other emotional instability disorders.…”