Working Memory Performance under a Negative Affect Is More Susceptible to Higher Cognitive Workloads with Different Neural Haemodynamic Correlates

Abstract

The effect of stress on task performance is complex, too much or too little stress negatively affects performance and there exists an optimal level of stress to drive optimal performance. Task difficulty and external affective factors are distinct stressors that impact cognitive performance. Neuroimaging studies showed that mood affects working memory performance and the correlates are changes in haemodynamic activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). We investigate the interactive effects of affective states and working memory load (WML) on working memory task performance and haemodynamic activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) neuroimaging on the PFC of healthy participants. We seek to understand if haemodynamic responses could tell apart workload-related stress from situational stress arising from external affective distraction. We found that the haemodynamic changes towards affective stressor- and workload-related stress were more dominant in the medial and lateral PFC, respectively. Our study reveals distinct affective state-dependent modulations of haemodynamic activity with increasing WML in n-back tasks, which correlate with decreasing performance. The influence of a negative effect on performance is greater at higher WML, and haemodynamic activity showed evident changes in temporal, and both spatial and strength of activation differently with WML.

Workload-dependent hemispheric asymmetries during the emotion-cognition interaction: a close-to-naturalistic fNIRS study

“…Anticevic et al ( 2010 ) reported a connection between performance and reduced deactivation in the frontopolar cortex, suggesting its involvement in resisting negative interference during cognitive tasks. Similarly, Feng et al ( 2021 ) found decreased frontopolar activation and performance during negative compared to neutral affective states in higher working memory load levels, indicating a failure to resist the negative interference. Consequently, the frontopolar activation observed in our study during negative distractions compared to positive and neutral distractions might indicate the engagement of cognitive control processes.…”

High vagally mediated resting-state heart rate variability is associated with superior working memory function

“…Through the literature review, it was found that previous studies mainly analyzed behavior performance related to working memory, and few experiments explored the latter from the perspective of brain function. Since many studies have shown that executive functions such as working memory are controlled by the prefrontal cortex (PFC) ( Barbosa et al, 2020 ; Feng et al, 2021 ; Li et al, 2022 ), this study used fNIRS technology and combined it with the classic n-back working memory paradigm to explore the relations between vagal tone and working memory from the perspective of brain function and behavioral performance ( Owen et al, 2005 ). fNIRS is a non-invasive neuroimaging technique with high temporal and spatial resolution.…”

“…Through the literature review, it was found that previous studies mainly analyzed behavior performance related to working memory, and few experiments explored the latter from the perspective of brain function. Since many studies have shown that executive functions such as working memory are controlled by the prefrontal cortex (PFC) (Barbosa et al, 2020;Feng et al, 2021;Li et al, 2022), this study used fNIRS technology and Abbreviations: HRV, heart rate variability; fNIRS, functional near-infrared spectroscopy; rMSSD, root mean square of successive differences; PNS, parasympathetic nervous system; SNS, sympathetic nervous system; ANS, autonomic nervous system; PFC, prefrontal cortex; HF, high frequency; LF, low frequency; IBI, inter-beat interval; Oxy-Hb, oxygenated hemoglobin; RT, reaction time; ACC, accuracy; ch, channel; CBF, cerebral blood flow; HIGHs, the high rMSSD group; LOWs, the low rMSSD group; ROI, region of interest; SDNN, standard deviation of normal to normal intervals; MANOVA, multivariate analysis of variance; EEG, electroencephalogram.…”