Behavioral and neural correlates of cognitive–affective function during late pregnancy: An Event-Related Potentials Study

Abstract

The present study was aimed at identifying potential behavioral and neural correlates of cognitive and emotional processing during pregnancy using scalp-recorded Event-Related Potentials (ERPs). We used a 4-stimulus visual oddball task, combining emotional and non-emotional stimuli. Responses to target and non-target stimuli were compared across groups of 17 pregnant women on their third trimester and 19 non-pregnant women. Participants also completed a non-emotional test of sustained attention and response inhibition; the Online Continuous Performance Test (OCPT). Pregnant women had poorer performance than controls on most indices of the OCPT and the oddball task. ERP results indicated that pregnancy significantly interacted with the type of target stimuli. Results of the P3 component have demonstrated a comparative reduction in P3 amplitude in pregnant women in response to the target emotional faces but not in response to the target shapes. Moreover, among pregnant women, P3 amplitude was greater for the target shapes than for the target faces, while in non-pregnant women P3 amplitude was greater for the target faces than for the target shapes. Results of the N170 component showed that N170 to faces, but not to shapes, was more pronounced in pregnant women compared with non-pregnant women. The current results provide indication of modulation of cognitive-affective function during pregnancy. ERP alterations may suggest changes in the recruitment of neural resources to process emotional stimuli and alterations in attention allocation and evaluation of emotional stimuli among pregnant women.