Pj. Whalen et al., The emotional counting Stroop paradigm: A functional magnetic resonance imaging probe of the anterior cingulate affective division, BIOL PSYCHI, 44(12), 1998, pp. 1219-1228
Background: The emotional counting Stroop (ecStroop) functional magnetic re
sonance imaging (fMRI) activation paradigm was designed to recruit the ante
rior cingulate affective division (ACad).
Methods: Nine normal, healthy male and female subjects (mean age 24.2 years
) reported via button press the number of neutral and negative words that a
ppeared on a screen while reaction time and fMRI data were acquired.
Results: We observed a) greater ACad activation for negative versus neutral
words during initial presentation blocks; b) lower overall ACad signal int
ensity during task performance (i.e. both negative and neutral words) compa
red to the baseline fixation condition; and c) no reaction time increase to
negative versus neutral words.
Conclusions: In a companion study of a cognitive version of the counting St
roop (Bush et al 1998), these same 9 subjects a) activated the more dorsal
anterior cingulate cognitive division; b) also showed the overall decrease
in ACad signal intensity; and c) demonstrated a reliable reaction time effe
ct. Taken together, these data offer a within-group spatial dissociation of
AC function based upon information content (i.e., cognitive vs. emotional)
and/or presence of behavioral interference. We propose the that ecStroop w
ill be a useful fMRI probe of ACad function in anxiety disorders. Biol Psyc
hiatry 1998;44:1219-1228. (C) 1998 Society of Biological Psychiatry.