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The effect of negative affect on cognition: Anxiety, not anger, impairs executive function.

ABSTRACT: It is often assumed that negative affect impairs the executive functions that underlie our ability to control and focus our thoughts. However, support for this claim has been mixed. Recent work has suggested that different negative affective states like anxiety and anger may reflect physiologically separable states with distinct effects on cognition. However, the effects of these 2 affective states on executive function have never been assessed. As such, we induced anxiety or anger in participants and examined the effects on executive function. We found that anger did not impair executive function relative to a neutral mood, whereas anxiety did. In addition, self-reports of induced anxiety, but not anger, predicted impairments in executive function. These results support functional models of affect and cognition, and highlight the need to consider differences between anxiety and anger when investigating the influence of negative affect on fundamental cognitive processes such as memory and executive function. (PsycINFO Database Record

SUBMITTER: Shields GS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5009014 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The effect of negative affect on cognition: Anxiety, not anger, impairs executive function.

Shields Grant S GS Moons Wesley G WG Tewell Carl A CA Yonelinas Andrew P AP

Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 20160421 6

It is often assumed that negative affect impairs the executive functions that underlie our ability to control and focus our thoughts. However, support for this claim has been mixed. Recent work has suggested that different negative affective states like anxiety and anger may reflect physiologically separable states with distinct effects on cognition. However, the effects of these 2 affective states on executive function have never been assessed. As such, we induced anxiety or anger in participan ...[more]

PMID: 27100367

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Project description:STUDY OBJECTIVES:The objective of this study was to determine which respiratory and architectural sleep parameters are related to cognitive function and cognitive status (mild cognitive impairment [MCI] versus normal cognitive aging [NCA]) in community-dwelling individuals with hypertension. Additionally, it aimed to determine whether the results changed in the presence or absence of vascular brain lesions (silent brain infarcts and extensive white matter hyperintensities [WMHs]). METHODS:In a cohort of individuals with hypertension and without previous stroke or dementia, we conducted in-hospital polysomnography including electroencephalography, electro-oculography, electromyography, and magnetic resonance imaging to assess silent brain infarcts and WMHs. Cognitive testing was carried out with a screening test (Dementia Rating Scale version 2 [DRS-2]) and a complete cognitive visit. RESULTS:This study included 158 participants with a median age of 65.0 years; 32.3% were females, and the median apnea-hypopnea index was 22.3 events/h. MCI was diagnosed in 24 study participants, and the rest had NCA. Regarding respiratory parameters, total DRS-2 scores (?; 95% CI) 0.121; 0.026, 0.215 were positively associated with mean O? saturation, whereas total (-0.022; -0.036, -0.009), executive function (-0.016; -0.026, -0.006) and memory (-0.017; -0.029, -0.004) DRS-2 scores were all negatively associated with the percent of time with oxygen saturation < 90% after correcting for education, vascular risk factors, and magnetic resonance imaging lesions. Regarding sleep architecture, Attention DRS-2 scores (0.0153; 0.001, 0.306) were independently associated with total sleep time. Similar results were obtained in the absence of silent brain infarcts or WMHs in the stratified analysis. None of the sleep parameters were associated with cognitive status. CONCLUSIONS:Low oxygen saturation contributes to cognitive performance, and this effect appears even in the absence of vascular brain lesions in individuals with hypertension.

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The effect of negative affect on cognition: Anxiety, not anger, impairs executive function.

Publications

The effect of negative affect on cognition: Anxiety, not anger, impairs executive function.

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