Emotional Stroop interference for threatening words is related to reduced EEG delta–beta coupling and low attentional control

Spontaneous EEG theta/beta ratio and delta–beta coupling in relation to attentional network functioning and self-reported attentional control

“…By contrast, SW-FW coupling measures have not been found to be significantly related to self-reported AC (Putman et al, 2012), even though these researchers did expect to find a positive relationship between delta-beta coupling and self-reported AC.…”

“…Attentional network functioning . Attentional control Relationships between spontaneous electroencephalographic (EEG) slow-wave (SW; i.e., the theta 4-7 Hz, delta 1-3 Hz bands) and fast-wave (FW; i.e., the beta 13-30 Hz band) frequency band activity may reflect the cortical-subcortical interactions involved in affective processes (Knyazev, 2007) and are considered to be of interest in the study of emotional states, dispositional affective traits, emotion regulation, and related processes and capabilities (e.g., Arns, Conners, & Kraemer, 2013;Massar, Kenemans, & Schutter, 2014;Putman, Arias-Garcia, Pantazi, & van Schie, 2012;Schutter & Knyazev, 2012;Schutter & Van Honk, 2005a;van Peer, Roelofs, & Spinhoven, 2008;Velikova et al, 2010).Two often-used EEG indices are the SW/FW ratio and SW-FW coupling. The SW/FW ratio results from dividing the SW power density (i.e., theta) by the FW power density (i.e., beta) for each individual participant's EEG recording at a selected brain site or selected sites, with higher ratio scores reflecting relatively more SW than FW power.…”

“…It has been postulated that a relative predominance of SW over FW power may reflect reduced cortical control function over subcortical drives related to motivational imbalances (Schutter & Van Honk, 2005a). On the other hand, SW-FW coupling (usually delta-beta coupling) is operationalized as the positive correlation between SW and FW in a selected sample, which usually compares samples that have scored high or low on a criterion variable (e.g., trait anxiety; see Putman et al, 2012). In general terms, a positive correlation between delta and beta power is thought to reflect stronger functional cortical-subcortical cross-talk associated with emotion regulation processes (e.g., Schutter & Van Honk, 2005b).…”

“…Several studies have reported relationships between these spontaneous EEG spectrum parameters and attentional phenomena such as inhibitory control functioning and attentional bias to threat (e.g., Putman, 2011;Putman et al, 2012;Putman, van Peer, Maimari, & van der Werff, 2010). Putman et al (2010) reported that the theta/beta ratio at bilateral frontal sites was inversely correlated with fearful modulation of response inhibition in an emotional go/no-go task (i.e., inhibitory control functioning) and with self-reported attentional control (AC).…”

“…Regarding coupling measures, spontaneous reduced frontal delta-beta coupling has been associated with anxiety-related disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (Velikova et al, 2010) and trait anxiety (Putman et al, 2012), and also with increased attentional avoidance of threat (Putman, 2011) and higher interference effects during an emotional Stroop task (Putman et al, 2012). By contrast, SW-FW coupling measures have not been found to be significantly related to self-reported AC (Putman et al, 2012), even though these researchers did expect to find a positive relationship between delta-beta coupling and self-reported AC.…”