目的:对怀孕期间认知和情绪功能的研究对孕妇认知功能下降的普遍看法提出了挑战。这项研究调查了妊娠晚期孕妇认知情感加工的行为和神经动力学,将它们与未怀孕的对照进行比较。
方法:使用64通道EEG-ERP系统,我们记录了参与情感单词识别任务的参与者的大脑活动。这项任务涉及最初查看一系列情绪化和中性的单词,随后进行识别测试,参与者将每个单词识别为\'new\'或\'以前看过\'。
结果:与关于妊娠晚期识别能力下降的普遍看法相反,我们的结果显示,组间错误率无显著差异.然而,怀孕的参与者表现出较慢的反应时间。就神经反应而言,孕妇表现出N1、P2和N400ERP成分的振幅增加,这表明与未怀孕的个体相比,他们可能需要额外的大脑资源来处理感知信息。在妊娠状态和刺激的情绪效价之间观察到显着的相互作用。孕妇对负面词的N1和N400反应增强,表明对潜在威胁的刺激敏感性增加。对于阳性或中性词没有观察到这种增强的反应。此外,对“新词”有增强的N1反应,但不要说“旧”的话。
结论:这些研究结果表明,妊娠晚期的特征是对新的,尤其是负性刺激的反应性增强,可能导致更谨慎的行为方法。提高警惕性和敏感性可以提供进化优势,优化胎儿发育,提高产妇健康。
OBJECTIVE: Research on cognitive and emotional functions during pregnancy challenges the prevalent perception of cognitive decline in pregnant women. This study investigates the behavioral and neural dynamics of cognitive-affective processing in third-trimester pregnant women, comparing them with non-pregnant controls.
METHODS: Using a 64-channel EEG-ERP system, we recorded brain activity as participants engaged in an emotional word recognition task. This task involved initially viewing a sequence of emotional and neutral words, followed by a recognition test where participants identified each word as \'new\' or \'previously seen\'.
RESULTS: Contrary to widespread beliefs about diminished recognition ability during late pregnancy, our results revealed no significant differences in error rates between groups. However, pregnant participants demonstrated slower reaction times. In terms of neural responses, pregnant women exhibited increased amplitudes in the N1, P2, and N400 ERP components, suggesting that they may require additional brain resources compared with non-pregnant individuals to process perceptual information. A significant interaction was observed between pregnancy status and the emotional valence of stimuli. Pregnant women showed heightened N1 and N400 responses to negative words, indicating increased sensitivity to stimuli potentially representing threat. This enhanced response was not observed for positive or neutral words. Furthermore, there was an amplified N1 response to \'new\' words, but not to \'old\' words.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that late pregnancy is characterized by heightened responsiveness to new and particularly negative stimuli, potentially leading to a more cautious behavioral approach. Heightened vigilance and sensitivity could offer evolutionary advantages, optimizing fetal development and enhancing maternal well-being.