title: Reduced representations capacity in visual working memory in trait anxiety.
abstract: Neural processes that support individual differences in trait anxiety and the amount of representations in visual-spatial working memory (WM) are currently unclear. We measured the contralateral delay activity (CDA) in a lateralized change detection task to explore this question. Different levels of memory load were varied within each block. Despite their unimpaired behavioral performance, individuals with high traitanxious(HTA) displayed several changes in the neuronal markers of the memory processes. The CDA amplitudes reached asymptote at loads of three and four items for HTA and low traitanxious(LTA) individuals, respectively. This result indicates that HTA individuals reach the upper limit of representation capacity with a smaller memory load than LTA individuals. Furthermore, the smaller CDA amplitudes in HTA individuals under high memory loads could be attributed to less contralateral cortical activity, which further indicates that HTA individuals are associated with reduced representations of taskrelevantitems in WM.
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Modern Teaching Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710062, China; MOE Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Senqing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Psychological Development and Education, Liaoning Normal University, Liaoning 116029, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hitchman
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
authors.forename: Qinghong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; University of Missouri, St. Louis, USA.
authors.forename: Cody
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Brain Function and Psychological Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China. Electronic address: lihongwrm@vip.sina.com.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Modern Teaching Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710062, China. Electronic address: weipinghu@163.com.
authors.forename: Weiping
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D065852:Spatial Memory / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attentional control theory; Contralateral delay activity (CDA); Trait anxiety; Working memory