ArticleBMC psychology2025
Acute stress impairs target enhancement rather than distractor suppression in attention selection: evidence from the N2pc and P
Article in BMC psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundStudies have shown that acute stress significantly impacts the selection of emotional stimuli. However, the extent to which acute stress affects the cognitive mechanisms underlying target enhancement and distractor suppression when selecting emotionally neutral stimuli remains unclear.
methodsWe explored this issue using the Maastricht Acute Stress Test (MAST), a visual search task, and event-related potential recordings. Eighty healthy adults participated in the experiment, which required them to search for a specific target while ignoring a color singleton distractor.
resultsThe MAST successfully induced a stress response in the stress group, as indicated by higher levels of salivary cortisol, state anxiety, and negative emotion, as well as lower levels of positive emotion. Importantly, the stress group showed a significantly smaller N2pc in the lateral target with middle distractor displays than the control group. However, no significant differences in P
conclusionsThese results suggest that acute stress impairs target enhancement rather than distractor suppression during attentional selection. This impairment may be due to impaired prefrontal cortex function under acute stress. The present research provides new insight into how acute stress affects attention selection.
trial registrationNot applicable. This study was conducted with healthy participants in a laboratory setting and does not meet the criteria for a clinical trial.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.