The effects of long-term stress on neural dynamics of working memory processing: An investigation using ERP

This study examined the neural dynamics of working memory (WM) processing under long-term stress. Forty participants who had been exposed to a long period of major exam preparation (six months) and twenty-one control participants performed a numerical n-back task (n = 1, 2) while electroencephalograms were recorded. Psychological and endocrinal measurements confirmed significantly higher levels of long-term stress for participants in the exam group. The exam group showed significantly increased P2 amplitude in the frontal-central sites in the 1-back and 2-back conditions, whereas other ERP components, including the P1, N1 and P3 and behavioral performance, were unchanged. Notably, the P2 effect was most pronounced in participants in the exam group who reported perceiving high levels of stress. The perceived stress scores positively correlated with the P2 amplitude in the 1-back and 2-back conditions. These results suggest that long-term stress has an impact on attention and the initiation of the updating process in WM.

• Publication year

  2016

• Venue

  Scientific Reports

• Publication date

  2016-03-22

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1038/srep23217PMID 27000528PMCID 4802387
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• Long-term stress appears to influence attention and the initiation of the working-memory updating process.

  Confidence 0.88

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) reviewB (s683577b42) review
• Perceived stress was positively correlated with P2 amplitude, and the P2 increase was strongest in participants reporting high perceived stress.

  Confidence 0.95

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) reviewB (s683577b42) review
• P1, N1, P3, and behavioral performance were unchanged by exam-preparation stress.

  Confidence 0.90

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) reviewB (s683577b42) review
• Participants in the exam preparation group showed higher P2 amplitude at frontal-central sites during both the 1-back and 2-back conditions.

  Confidence 0.97

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) reviewB (s683577b42) review

• event-related potentials

  measurement

  EEG-derived time-locked waveforms analyzed here as components such as P1, N1, P2, and P3.

  Aliases: ERP

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) reviewB (s683577b42) review
• exam preparation group

  participant group

  Participants who had undergone six months of major exam preparation before the experiment.

  Aliases: exam group

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) reviewB (s683577b42) review
• long-term stress

  condition

  A sustained stress exposure lasting months, linked here to extended exam preparation before testing.

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) reviewB (s683577b42) review
• n-back task

  task

  A working-memory task in which participants decide whether the current number matches one presented n items earlier.

  Aliases: n-back

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) reviewB (s683577b42) review
• p2 amplitude

  electrophysiological measure

  The size of the P2 event-related potential component measured at frontal-central scalp sites.

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) reviewB (s683577b42) review
• perceived stress

  self-report measure

  Participants' self-reported level of stress during the exam-preparation period.

  Aliases: subjective stress

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) reviewB (s683577b42) review
• updating process

  cognitive process

  The working-memory operation that refreshes and replaces maintained information as task demands change.

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) reviewB (s683577b42) review
• working memory

  cognitive function

  The cognitive system used to hold and manipulate information during the numerical memory task.

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extraction뀨 (7c402c1b98) reviewq (76h6bfydm6) reviewAK (4715169a40) reviewB (s683577b42) review

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