Does stress influence executive functions through mechanisms other than control itself? Examining the effects of stress on cognitive inhibition within the theory of emotional foundations of cognitive control

Abstract

Stress is known to impair the ability to suppress task-irrelevant stimuli (i.e., cognitive inhibition), but the mechanisms underpinning those effects are relatively unclear. Drawing on the theory of emotional foundations of cognitive control, I tested whether stress impaired cognitive inhibition performance by modulating affective bases of executive control. Participants (N=164 with usable data) were randomly assigned to a Zoom-adapted Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) or control TSST, and 18 min post-manipulation completed a modified Stroop that probabilistically assessed current affect following errors and correct responses for each trial type (congruent, incongruent). Saliva samples were collected both pre- and 15-min-post-manipulation offset, from which cortisol and other analytes are being assayed. Consistent with prior work, stress impaired cognitive inhibition. Importantly, stress modulated the effects of both errors and exerting executive control on affect. In particular, stress increased the extent to which exerting executive control (incongruent correct minus congruent correct affect) contributed to negative affect, whereas stress decreased the extent to which making an error in the task (error minus correct affect) contributed to negative affect. However, none of the affective results mediated the effects of stress on cognitive inhibition. Although stress modulated the effects of making an error and exerting executive control on affect, these affective effects did not explain the effects of stress on cognitive inhibition. These results suggest that the effects of stress on cognitive inhibition do not occur through affective or motivational pathways, but instead through other pathways, such as impairing control itself.