Isolating Working Memory Gating Processes Under Stress

The dynamic and context-appropriate shift between maintaining and updating goal-relevant information in working memory (WM) is believed to be governed by a fronto-striatal gating system. This system regulates the entry of information into WM, by deciding which information should be allowed in and which information should be prevented from entering WM. Prior research suggests that acute stress may impact WM functioning and associated cortical and subcortical regions. However, it remains unclear which specific component processes of WM are affected by acute stress. Here we used the reference-back paradigm to disentangle potential effects of acute stress on WM maintenance, updating, gate opening, and gate closing processes. Ninety-six participants completed the task twice: once at baseline and again while undergoing either a stress or control manipulation, in a between-subjects design. While no stress effects emerged for reaction times, acute stress detrimentally impacted accuracy on trials requiring WM maintenance. Drift diffusion modeling revealed that acute stress reduced overall drift rates (information processing speed), with larger group differences on maintenance trials. No effects emerged for response caution. To contextualize our findings, we conducted a meta-analysis (42 studies, 2008 participants, 210 effects). WM tasks were categorized by key demands: maintenance only, maintenance + overcoming competition, and maintenance + updating. The meta-analysis revealed impaired accuracy in tasks requiring both maintenance and updating, like the reference-back paradigm in our own study, but not tasks without updating demands. Collectively, our findings suggest that acute stress impacts response accuracy but not speed, and only in tasks with both maintenance and updating demands.