The Effect Of Acute Stress On Target Storage And Distractor Suppression In Visual Working Memory

Under acute stress,the excessive secretion of hormones by individuals would affect the function of brain regions such as the prefrontal and posterior parietal cortex,which are closely related to visual working memory target storage and interference suppression.So,we guessed that acute stress would affect the target storage and distractor suppression in visual working memory.Meanwhile,Recently research has found that target storage and distractor suppression in visual working memory will be affected by the distraction presentation methods.Therefore,the present study investigated how acute stress affect the target storage and distractor suppression in visual working memory by different presentation methods of distraction?The study used MAST to induce an individual’s acute stress response to complete the visual working memory task,and collect EEG while the visual working memory task is in progress.Using behavioral results and alpha oscillation power as measurement indicators,the effects of acute stress on visual working memory target storage and distractor suppression were studied through two experiments.Experiment 1 mainly explored the effect of acute stress on target storage and distractor suppression of visual working memory under the condition of coded distraction presentation.Use 2(group: stress group,control group)× 3(number of memory items: 2 red,4 red,2 red + 2 blue)mixed experimental design.Among them,2 red + 2 blue are coding distraction conditions,the number of memory items is the within-subject factor,and the between-subject factor is the group.The results of the study found that the stress group was significantly higher than the control group in the difference in cortisol and the difference in subjective emotional perception scores;there was no significant difference in the behavioral indicators between the stress group and the control group;in the alpha power,The alpha power of the stress group under coded distraction is significantly lower than that of the control group.The results show that acute stress impairs the distractor suppression in visual working memory under the condition of coding distraction.Experiment 2 explored the effects of acute stress on target storage and interference suppression of visual working memory under delayed distraction presentation.A mixed experimental design of 2(group: stress group,control group)×4(number of memory items: 2 red,4 red,2 red delayed distractions,2 blue delayed distractions)was used.the number of memory items is the within-subject factor,and the between-subject factor is the group.The results of the study found that the stress group was significantly higher than the control group in the difference in cortisol and the difference in subjective emotional perception scores;there was no significant difference in the behavioral indicators between the stress and control groups;The alpha power under delayed distraction in the stress group was significantly lower than that in the control group.The results show that acute stress impairs the individual’s interference suppression in visual working memory under delayed distraction conditions.In a word,acute stress impairs the distractor suppression in visual working memory under coding and delayed distraction conditions.