Anxiety has a significant impact on the effectiveness of cognitive activity, which may be due to the characteristic features of the organization of voluntary and involuntary attention in individuals with different levels of anxiety. Objectives: to use coherence analysis of the EEG θ1 range (4–6 Hz) to study functional cortical connections in a state of relative rest and when performing an attention test in subjects with different levels of trait anxiety. EEG θ1 band coherence was analyzed in subjects (43 subjects, men aged 19–21 years) with low, medium, and high levels of trait anxiety (TA, as defined by Spielberger) in three experimental situations: a state of relative rest with the eyes closed, the initial condition before the test (with the eyes open), and during the test (the Gorbov red-black table test). Subjects with high TA in the state of relative rest displayed lower right-hemisphere EEG θ1 coherence in the system of interactions, with a focus in the temporal lead. In the initial state, with the eyes open, and when performing the test, individuals with high LA showed high between-hemisphere EEG θ1 coherence. The greatest lability in the structure of coherence interactions in the EEG θ1 range was observed in subjects with intermediate TA, who showed an increase predominantly in between-hemisphere coherence in most areas of the cortex during the test as compared with the initial state. Individuals with high TA were characterized by relative inertness in the structure of coherence interactions in the EEG θ1 range at the various stages of the study. These results indicate that trait anxiety is one of the factors modulating the organization of neurocognitive networks, both in a state of relative rest and during testing of attention.
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Dzhebrailova, T.D., Korobeinikova, I.I., Karatygin, N.A. et al. Coherence in the EEG Theta1 Range in the State of Relative Rest and during Testing of Attention in Subjects with Different Levels of Trait Anxiety. Neurosci Behav Physi 53, 1190–1201 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-023-01515-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-023-01515-4