Influences of acute stress on inhibitory control - does age matter? An ERP study

Prefrontal cortex (PFC) based cognitive functions have been shown to be
impaired with increasing age. Furthermore, the PFC has been found to be highly
sensitive to stress and the stress hormone cortisol, which are assumed to influence
executive functions. Although stress, allegorical for the life in the 21st century,
concerns and affects both the young and the elderly in work life, little is known
about the mutual impact of stress and aging on executive functioning. The present
EEG study investigated the impact of acute stress on the core executive function
inhibitory control in young and older males. Forty-nine participants were either
stressed via the Trier Social Stress Test or underwent a control condition. Subse-
quently, they performed a Go Nogo task while EEG, reaction times, errors and
salivary cortisol were measured. Though older participants reacted slower to Go
stimuli relative to young participants, both groups showed the same accuracy rate
for Go and Nogo stimuli. Surprisingly, stress improved accuracy compared to the
control group. The similar pattern was found in the EEG data with an enhanced
error-related negativity (Ne/ERN) in the stress group. Beside this, elderly showed
a reduced Ne compared to the young. No interaction between stress and age was
observed. The present results suggest that stress may have beneficial effects on
inhibitory control and error monitoring, irrespectively of the age. However, fur-
ther research is needed to clarify if this is valid for other executive functions and
under which circumstances negative impacts manifest.