PurposeThis study investigated gender differences in behavioral inhibitory control among college students under acute stress state by using event-related potential technique.MethodsAcute stress was evoked in 41 college students (22 males and 19 females) using the Trier Social Stress paradigm, and the neutral state was matched using out-of-speech reading, with subjects completing a two-choice Oddball task in each of the two states. In combination with the ERP technique, the area under the stress curve, reaction time, number of errors, and the difference waves between the two stimulus conditions in the frontal-central region N2 wave amplitude and the parietal-central region P3 wave amplitude were compared between the two groups of subjects in the stressful and neutral state.ResultsThe results revealed that the area under the stress curve was larger under the stress condition compared to the neutral condition, and the area under the stress curve was larger in females than in males. Behavioral results showed no statistically significant differences in reaction time and number of errors between the two genders in the acute stress condition. The ERP results showed that the wave amplitudes of N2 and P3 decreased significantly in both genders in the acute stress state. The decrease in N2 amplitude was greater in females during the transition from neutral to stressful condition, while the difference in P3 amplitude was not statistically significant in both genders.ConclusionThe findings suggest that evoked acute stress can promote behavioral inhibitory control in both genders and that females are more sensitive to acute stress state.

Purpose The current research of the effect of acute stress on individual behavioral inhibition remains divergent. The present study aims to explore the effects of acute stress on behavioral inhibition in college students and to understand the neural oscillatory characteristics of their behavioral inhibition process. Patients and Methods We invited 27 college students (12 males and 15 females) to participate in the study. The experiment was conducted using the Trier Social Stress paradigm to evoke an acute stress state and an out-of-speech reading to set a neutral state. Participants completed a two-choice Oddball task in the acute stress state and the neutral state, respectively. We used a 64-channel EEG cap to record EEG data from university students during the experimental task. In combination with the ERO technique, we compared the reaction time, the number of errors, and the power of the alpha (8–13 Hz) and theta (4–8 Hz) frequency bands at the midline of the frontal lobe for subjects in both states. The correlation between the area under the stress area line and the alpha as well as theta frequency bands was also analyzed. Results We found that in the two-choice Oddball task, the response inhibition time was shorter, the number of response errors decreased, and the alpha-band power values decreased in the acute stress state compared to the neutral state. For the standard stimulus, the theta-band power increase in the acute stress state. Conclusion Our results suggest that evoked acute stress promotes behavioral inhibition in college students by affecting their frontal midline neural oscillations.