Biological Psychology

The error-related negativity (ERN)--an index of error monitoring--is associated with anxiety symptomatology. Although recent work suggests associations between the ERN and anxiety are relatively modest, little attention has been paid to how variation in task parameters may influence the strength of ERN-anxiety associations. To close this gap, the current meta-analysis assesses the possible influence of task parameter variation in the Flanker task--the most commonly used task to elicit the ERN--on observed ERN-anxiety associations. Here, we leveraged an existing open database of published/unpublished ERN-anxiety effect sizes, supplementing this database by further coding for variation in stimulus type (letter vs. arrow), response type (one-handed vs. two-handed), and block-level feedback (with vs. without). We then performed meta-regression analyses to assess whether variation in these Flanker task parameters moderated the effect size of ERN-anxiety associations. No evidence for an effect of stimulus type was identified. However, both response type and block-level feedback significantly moderated the magnitude of ERN-anxiety associations. Specifically, studies employing either a two-handed (vs. one-handed) task, or those with (vs. without) block-level feedback exhibited more than a two-fold increase in the estimated ERN-anxiety effect size. Thus, accounting for common variation in task parameters may at least partially explain apparent inconsistencies in the literature regarding the magnitude of ERN-anxiety associations. At a practical level, these data can inform the design of studies seeking to maximize ERN-anxiety associations. At a theoretical level, the results also inform testable hypotheses regarding the exact nature of the association between the ERN and anxiety.

ObjectiveTo study the reliability and validity of an odor identification test. MethodsThe data come from an epidemiological cohort including 1146 non-Hispanic Caucasian, 86 Hispanic, and 12 other participants at the baseline visit (73.4% female). We tested the fit of each of three neurobiologically plausible models (validity) for responding on a 12-item odor identification task using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA); five model fit indices were assessed for each run. CFA testing fit over time (reliability) was planned for the measurement model that was found to fit across groups at the baseline visit. If a model was not found for the baseline visit, the test would be deemed "not invariant" over group, and not tested over time. In this case, we planned a post hoc Rasch analysis to further study test validity; and a multi-trait, multi-method analysis (MTMM) of the entire test battery to study reliability in terms of other, valid, cognitive and neuropsychological functional assessments. ResultsNearly 70% of the variability in odor identification scores is error, a result that was replicated over four independent samples at the baseline visit. A core of 30% of "signal" from the task was identified over time (via Rasch modeling) but was explained fully by global cognition (replicated over time). Conclusions"Odor identification" as a construct cannot be reliably or validly measured over time or group. Multiple hypothesis-driven methods and replications show that this test provides no information that a global cognition score does not also (more validly and reliably) provide.

Wellbeing is commonly defined as the combination of feeling good and functioning well and typically conceptualized as two related but distinct components. Hedonic wellbeing emphasizes pleasure, happiness, and life satisfaction, while eudaimonic wellbeing focuses on meaning, personal growth, flourishing, and the realization of ones potential. The Mental Health Continuum-Short Form was developed as a comprehensive measure of wellbeing and includes three subscales assessing emotional, social, and psychological wellbeing. Although the Mental Health Continuum total score is often interpreted as an indicator of overall wellbeing, the underlying genetic structure of its three subscales and its genetic overlap with other commonly used wellbeing measures remains unclear. Using data from 5,212 individuals from the Netherlands Twin Register (72% female, mean age 36.4), we fitted multivariate twin models to examine the genetic architecture of the Mental Health Continuum and its associations with other wellbeing measures (quality of life, life satisfaction, subjective happiness, and flourishing). Results indicate that, at the genetic level, the Mental Health Continuum is best explained by its three distinct subscales rather than by a latent factor. When considering the Mental Health Continuum together with the other wellbeing measures, we found moderate to high genetic correlations (r = 0.52 - 0.83), indicating substantial overlap in the genetics underlying the wellbeing constructs. However, we did not find evidence for a single common genetic factor underlying all constructs. These findings highlight the multidimensional structure of wellbeing, but the moderate to high genetic correlations across measures suggest that it is important to align the level of measurement (phenotypic vs genetic) with the research question.

Historically, neural variability observed during task was interpreted as "noise," assumed to obscure meaningful signal and thus something to be minimized both analytically by researchers and functionally by the brain. Changes to this signal-to-noise ratio have been proposed as a possible neural mechanism behind the increased reaction-time variability (RTV) in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, not all variability is the same - in some cases, variability can have some underlying "statistical structure" that can be beneficial to information processing. The challenge lies in distinguishing meaningful variability from random noise. The edge-of-synchrony critical point, which describes a system poised between synchronous and asynchronous regimes, could be a good theoretical framework to study these different types of neural variability. In this study, we investigate whether changes in criticality and oscillatory dynamics preceded slower behavioral responses during a bimodal continuous performance task in ADHD. We find evidence that, prior to slower responses, neural dynamics shift toward criticality in both ADHD and control groups, suggesting that increase variability in ADHD and during attention lapses are related to structured variability and not necessarily random noise. Notably, these findings run counter predictions based on the proposed model and previous literature on neural noise in this population, challenging predictions of edge-of-synchrony criticality as a unifying account of neural variability and behavioral performance. Furthermore, this effect did not emerge at the between-subject level, underscoring the limitations of relying on between-subject correlations to infer neural mechanisms. Impact StatementOur findings add new perspective to the hypothesis that links neural variability to reaction time variability in adults with and without ADHD. We found that neural dynamics shift towards criticality prior to slow reaction times in adults with and without ADHD, but in ADHD, dynamics lie closer to criticality regardless of response type, suggesting a different "attractor" state.

It is estimated that genetic factors contribute to approximately 50% of an individuals personality. However, despite this estimate, statistical analyses have yet to establish a significant and consistent relationship between personality tests and genetic factors. Conversely, a large number of individuals in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan believe in a connection between genetically determined ABO blood type and personality traits. This pilot study aimed to investigate this relationship by analyzing data from a Japanese survey (N=1,827) and a South Korean survey (N=482) using a combination of traditional statistical methods and AI. The findings demonstrated a relationship between ABO blood type and self-reported personality traits, as assessed through several single-question items, consistent with the anticipated outcomes. The findings of this study imply that the relationship between blood type and personality may extend the ABO blood type to other heritable personality traits. Additionally, this study also explores the influence of the level of interest on personality and the potential role of evolutionary psychology.

The neural basis of behavioural changes in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) remains a controversial issue. One factor contributing to this challenge is the phenotypic heterogeneity observed in ASD, which suggests that several different system disruptions may contribute to diverse patterns of impairment between and within study samples. Here, we took a retrospective approach, using SFARI data to study ASD by focusing on participants with genetic imbalances targeting the dopaminergic system. Using complex network analysis, we investigated the relations between participants, Gene Ontology (GO) and gene dosage related to dopaminergic neurotransmission from a polygenic point of view. We converted network analysis into a machine learning binary classification problem to differentiate ASD diagnosed participants from DD (developmental delay) diagnosed participants. Using 1846 participants to train a Random Forest algorithm, our best classifier achieved on average a diagnosis predicting accuracy of 85.18% (sd 1.11%) on a test sample of 790 participants using gene dosage features. In addition, we observed that if the classifier uses GO features it was also able to infer a correct response based on the previous examples because it is tied to a set of biological process, molecular functions and cellular components relevant to the problem. This yields a less variable and more compact set of features when comparing with gene dosage classifiers. Other facets of knowledge-based systems approaches addressing ASD through network analysis and machine learning, providing an interesting avenue of research for the future, are presented through the study. Lay SummaryThere are important issues in the differential diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Gene dosage effects may be important in this context. In this work, we studied genetic alterations related to dopamine processes that could impact brain development and function of 2636 participants. On average, from a genetic sample we were able to correctly separate autism from developmental delay with an accuracy of 85%.

The error-related negativity (ERN) and correct-related negativity (CRN) are event-related potentials (ERPs) that reflect performance monitoring following error and correct responses, respectively. Prior work demonstrates the ERN is sensitive to the motivational significance of errors, which increases under social observation. However, most studies testing how social observation impacts performance monitoring rely on trial-averaged ERPs, potentially obscuring meaningful fluctuations in ERN/CRN over time. Here, we had participants complete a Flanker task twice (social observation vs. alone) and employed mixed-effects modeling of single-trial ERPs to test if social observation impacts ERN/CRN trajectories over short (within blocks) or long (between blocks) timescales. We found that social observation selectively influenced ERN/CRN trajectories over short timescales: for blocks performed under social observation (but not alone), ERN magnitudes increased across trials and CRN magnitudes decreased. At longer timescales, ERN/CRN significantly decreased across all blocks, regardless of social observation and consistent with a vigilance decrement. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that social observation influences performance monitoring trajectories over short timescales. Results highlight the importance of analyzing ERN/CRN trajectories over relatively short timescales to fully characterize the impact of social observation on performance monitoring dynamics. These findings lay the groundwork for future investigation into whether social observation interacts with individual differences in motivation/affect to differentially impact performance monitoring dynamics.

Human faces are relevant stimuli that capture attention, provide information about group belonging and elicit automatic prepared responses. While early experiences with other race faces plays a critical role in acquiring face expertise, the exact mechanism through which it exerts its influence is still to be elucidated. In particular, the influence of genetic factors and the role of a multi-ethnic context has not been explored. The aim of this study was to investigate how caregiving experiences with nannies and oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) genotypes interact in regulating other-race categorisation mechanisms in adults. Information about single nucleotide polymorphisms of the OXTR (rs53576) and experiences with own- and other-race nannies was collected from 89 Singaporean adults, who completed a visual categorization task of face stimuli (Chinese or Javanese). Participants were grouped into A/A homozygotes and G-carriers and assigned a score to account for the type of nanny experience. A General Linear Model was used to estimate the effect of nanny experience, genetic group and their interaction on categorization reaction time. A significant main effect of the nanny experience (p<.001) and of the interaction between genetic group and experience (p=.008) was found. Post-hoc analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between nanny experience and reaction time for A/A homozygotes (r=-0.52, p<.001) but no significant correlation for G-carriers. In summary, a significant gene-environment interaction on face categorization was found. This finding appears to represent an indirect pathway through which genes and experiences interact to shape mature social sensitivity in human adults. HighlightsEarly nanny experience interacts with oxytocin receptor genotype in affecting the speed of face categorisation. Individuals with other-race nanny experience show faster categorisation response times. Gene-environment interactions are present in face categorisation.

Mindfulness-based cognitive training exhibits great propensity for improving cognitive performance across a range of contexts. However, the neurophysiological basis of these cognitive enhancements has remained relatively unclear. Previous studies have widely examined EEG during mindfulness practice - or made comparisons with long-term meditators and controls - but have failed to capture how EEG dynamics in subsequent cognitive testing scenarios might be altered as a function of mindfulness-based interventions. The current study therefore aimed to assess a variety of EEG dynamics (oscillatory, aperiodic, and event-related) during engagement in a dynamic and complex cognitive task, following a mindfulness-based cognitive training regime. Participants (n = 40, age range = 18 - 38) attended the lab on two separate occasions (pre- and post-a web-based one-week mindfulness intervention), where EEG was recorded during engagement in the Target Motion Analyst (TMA) task. Previous analysis of the same participants demonstrated that greater adherence to the mindfulness-based cognitive training was associated with improved performance on the TMA task (Dziego, Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, Schlesewsky et al., 2024). Here, we capitalise on these previous findings to assess whether adherence is paralleled by measurable differences in on-task EEG dynamics. Linear mixed-effects modelling demonstrated that, while main effects were observed across session, adherence to cognitive training was not directly associated with alpha power, theta power or 1/f parameters. Challenges also arose when computing event-related potentials (ERPs), illustrating the difficulties of using this technique in more complex testing environments. While these results are challenging to place within the context of previous EEG studies on meditation and cognitive performance, our findings highlight the complexities in understanding the cognitive benefits of mindfulness-based training interventions through EEG dynamics observed during subsequent cognitive testing.

Classical views suggest that experienced affect is related to a specific bodily response (Fingerprint hypothesis), whereas recent perspectives challenge this view postulating that similar affective experiences rather evoke different physiological responses. To further advance this debate in the field, we used representational similarity analysis (N= 64) to investigate the correspondence between subjective affect (arousal and valence ratings) and physiological reactions (skin conductance response [SCR], startle blink response, heart rate and corrugator activity) across various emotion induction contexts (picture viewing task, sound listening task and imagery task). Significant similarities were exclusively observed between SCR and arousal in the picture viewing task. However, none of the other physiological measures showed a significant relation with valence and arousal ratings in any of the tasks. These findings tend to support the populations hypothesis, suggesting that there is no clear match between the evoked physiological responses and the experienced subjective affect between individuals. Statement of relevanceThe subjective affective experience evoked by an event is accompanied by physiological responses. The correspondence between physiological response patterns and the experienced affect, however, is still under debate. Classical views (Fingerprint hypothesis) suggest that affect is related to a specific physiological response, whereas recent perspectives (Populations hypothesis) challenge this view, postulating rather different physiological responses. In the current study, we used representational similarity analysis (RSA) to examine the relation between affective experience, assessed using valence and arousal ratings, and the evoked physiological reactivity across three affect-inducing contexts. Results showed significant similarities exclusively between SCR and arousal in the passive picture viewing task. However, none of the other physiological measures showed a significant relation with valence and arousal ratings in any of the tasks, supporting the populations hypothesis. These findings invite to reframe the relation between physiology and affect from invariant and homogeneous to variant and context-dependent.

Hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention are core symptoms dimensions in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Some approaches suggest that these symptoms arise from deficits in the ability to anticipate and process rewards. However, evidence is equivocal with regard to ADHD-related differences in brain activity during reward processing. The aim of this study was to investigate when, and how, reward-related ERP activity was associated with hyperactive/impulsive symptoms and inattention symptoms. Adults with ADHD (n=34) and matched comparison participants (n=36) completed an electrophysiological version of the Monetary Incentive Delay task. This task separates reward processing into two stages-namely, an anticipation stage and a delivery stage. During the anticipation stage, visual cues signalled a possible monetary incentive (i.e. a reward or loss). After a brief delay, the delivery stage began, and incentives were delivered contingent on a speeded button-press. Electroencephalogram activity was simultaneously sampled and incentive-related event relate potentials (ERPs) calculated. These data were then analysed by calculating multiple regression models, at each sample point, wherein the correlation between incentive-related ERPs and ADHD symptoms was estimated. Linear and curvilinear associations between ERP activity and ADHD symptoms were tested in each regression mode. Findings suggest that ADHD symptoms were associated ERP activity at different reward processing stages. Hyperactive/impulsive symptoms were associated with reduced ERP activity during the initial anticipation of rewards from 224-329 ms post-reward cue. Inattention symptoms were associated with reduced ERP activity during the initial delivery of rewards from 251-280 ms post-reward onset. Finally, extreme ends of hyperactive/impulsive and inattention symptoms were associated with reduced ERP activity towards the end of the anticipation stage from 500 ms post-reward cue onwards. These results support the idea that reward processing is disrupted in ADHD while also shedding new light on the dynamic relationship between ADHD symptom dimensions and the neurological mechanisms of reward processing.

Cognitively demanding tasks are often perceived as costly due to the cognitive control resources they require, leading to effort avoidance, particularly in psychiatric populations with motivational impairments. Research on anxiety and cognitive effort are mixed: some studies suggest anxiety increases the perceived effort cost and avoidance, while others indicate that cognitive effort engagement can serve as an adaptive coping strategy. To reconcile these perspectives, we examined the interaction between state and trait anxiety on cognitive effort evaluation and engagement in two experiments. We hypothesized that state anxiety enhances task engagement as difficulty increases, and that this effect is diminished in individuals with high trait anxiety. Experiment 1 assessed self-reported anxiety in an online sample, while Experiment 2 manipulated state anxiety through autobiographical recall. Both experiments employed flow induction and effort discounting paradigms. Across both studies, the effect of state anxiety on task engagement depended on trait anxiety, but the direction of the state anxiety effect was opposite to the effect we predicted. In Experiment 1, participants with low trait anxiety reported reduced task engagement, as indexed by lower flow scores, when state anxiety was higher, but only in easy tasks. This effect was attenuated in participants with higher trait anxiety. The same pattern was observed in Experiment 2, but this time the interaction between trait and state anxiety was present regardless of task difficulty. These findings suggest that trait anxiety may reflect reduced impact of state anxiety on task disengagement. Public significance statementThis study demonstrated that effects of state anxiety on task disengagement depend on individual differences in trait anxiety. People with higher trait anxiety reported reduced effects of state anxiety on task disengagement.

Understanding whether sex-related differences in the associations between emotion negativity and reward processing are present in early childhood has the potential to critically inform the etiology and prevention of psychiatric disorders characterized by dysregulated negative affect. Previous research suggests that altered neural processing of reward is associated with elevated levels of negative affect in adolescents and that the patterns of these associations may show sex-related differences. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between negative affect and reward processing in young children and none have directly examined potential sex-related differences in this relationship during early childhood. The current study investigated potential sex-related differences in neural response to reward feedback using EEG and their sex-specific association with emotional negativity in 140 children 4-7 years of age. Children completed a developmentally appropriate reward processing task while EEG data was recorded. Temporospatial Principal Component Analysis was used to separate overlapping feedback-related ERP components, revealing that males had greater loss-related feedback negativity and gain- and loss-related P200 values than females. At the individual level, males also showed a negative correlation between emotional negativity scores and gain-related P200 amplitudes. In line with prior work in adults for sex differences in attentional biases to emotional stimuli, these results suggest that neural mechanisms leading to sex differences in abnormal development of emotional negativity may emerge during early childhood and grow in magnitude during adolescence.

Aversive conditioning prompts reliable changes in the power of EEG alpha-band oscillations and pupil dilation. Both variables have been used to test hypotheses on the acquisition, generalization, and extinction of conditioned threat. Existing studies have largely relied on trial averages and group-level analyses. Thus, the variability of these physiological markers to aversive learning at the subject level is currently unknown. Comparisons of group-level analyses in prior studies suggest that pupil dilation and EEG-alpha activity capture complementary information. However, to date, no study has directly compared these two markers in terms of their effect sizes at the level of individual participants. The present study employed Bayesian multilevel modeling to quantify the variability of conditioning effect estimates for alpha-band power and pupillometry. Estimates were examined at the group level and at the participant level, across two conditioning paradigms, involving visual and auditory cues. Although the two metrics shared similar effect sizes at the group level, participant-level variability in these effect sizes was substantially higher for pupil-dilation compared to alpha-power, and this finding was replicated across both paradigms. These findings have important implications for clinical and inter-individual difference research which requires both the quantification of effects at the participant-level as well as meaningful variability between-participants that can be linked to relevant differences such as anxiety.

Interoceptive-exteroceptive integration is fundamental for a unified interactive experience of the world with the body. Predictive coding accounts propose that these integrated signals operate predictively, with regulation by precision-weighting. Heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs) are one means to investigate integrated processing. In a previous study, consistent with predictive coding characterisations of precision-weighting, we observed modulation of HEPs by attention. However, we found no evidence of HEP modulation by participants interoceptive ability, despite the characterisation by predictive coding theories of trait abilities as a similar reflection of differential precision-weighting. In this study, we sought to more sensitively test the hypothesised trait-precision influences on HEPs by using an individually-adjusted measure of interoceptive performance. However, contrary to a precision-weighted predictive coding framework, we failed to find evidence in support of the HEP modulations by attentional-precision or trait-precision. Nonetheless, we observed robust HEP effects indicative of an expectation of a sound on the basis of a heartbeat -i.e. interoceptive-exteroceptive integration. It is possible that under our more individually-tailored task, participants relied less on attentional-precision to boost predictions due to an enhanced perception of cardio-audio synchrony. Furthermore, assessing interoceptive ability is challenging, thus variations in performance may not accurately reflect trait-precision variations. Nevertheless, in sum, our findings are inconsistent with a precision-weighted prediction error view of the HEP, and highlight the need for clearer definitions of the manipulation and measurement of precision in predictive coding. Finally, our robust interoceptive-exteroceptive integration HEP effects may provide a valuable tool for investigating such integration in both clinical conditions and cognition. Impact statementWe investigate heart-evoked potentials during interoceptive-exteroceptive integration to determine whether cross-modal integrated processes operate under a precision-weighted predictive coding framework. Using a more sensitive individually-tailored task, we found no evidence of the modulation of cardio-audio expectation by attention or individual differences in interoceptive perception (i.e. by state or trait measures of precision). Nonetheless, we replicate evidence of cardiac-driven predictions of auditory stimuli, providing a potential tool for investigating their relationship with emotion and embodied selfhood.

The own name is an important, salient self-related stimulus and ostensive cue. Prioritized processing of ones own name plays a key role in attention, self-awareness, and social and cognitive development. Previous studies using event-related potentials (ERPs) have reported a self-preferential effect for the own name, characterized by enhanced neural responses compared to the names of (close) others. In this study, we aimed to develop and validate an EEG auditory frequency-tagging task to measure self-preferential processing of the own name, leveraging the superior signal-to-noise ratio of this technique, which is highly relevant for future studies on infants and clinical populations. To this end, we ran two separate studies (dichotic: n1 = 31, non-dichotic: n2 = 32). In contrast to previous ERP research, we did not find evidence of a self-preferential effect. We reasoned that collapsing temporal information may have led to the failure to capture the effect, which ERP research has shown to emerge at a late stage of processing, and that this effect may have been overshadowed by early brain responses. To address this issue, we applied a novel approach that we refer to as the time-resolved frequency tagging approach, which incorporates knowledge of the effect in the temporal domain. This did result in a clear self-preferential effect of the own name. Hence, we were able to develop and validate an EEG frequency-tagging task to measure the self-preferential effect of the own name. Our approach can also be used in future EEG frequency-tagging studies investigating other complex cognitive processes.

Voluntary actions are coupled with the respiratory cycle, yet whether this coupling reflects action timing aligning with breathing or breathing adjusting to anticipated action remains unclear. This pre-registered study compared respiration-action coupling across three conditions using a modified Libet clock task. Thirty participants performed key presses under Self-initiated (freely chosen timing), Delayed (predictable timing after one full clock rotation), and Immediate (speeded response to stimulus onset) conditions. Circular uniformity tests revealed significant respiratory phase concentration at key press exclusively in the Self-initiated condition, and time-resolved phase consistency analysis showed that coupling emerged before movement onset only in this condition. These findings suggest that action timing aligns with ongoing breathing rhythms, and that temporal freedom, rather than preparation time or predictability, is critical for this coupling to emerge. Additionally, actions performed during inhalation were followed by shorter and deeper subsequent breaths across all conditions, indicating greater perturbation of ongoing breathing when acting during inhalation. Participants reported a subjective preference for pressing during exhalation, which correlated with individual differences in exhalation bias during self-initiated actions. Body awareness, but not interoceptive awareness or trait anxiety, predicted coupling strength. These results suggest that pre-movement respiration-action coupling reflects an implicit process whereby self-chosen action timing exploits ongoing respiratory states, potentially minimizing action-related respiratory perturbation.

A proactive mechanism has been postulated to promote successful inhibition (Kenemans, 2015). Specifically, this mechanism is thought to operate before any action demanding or countermanding event has occurred. In the current study, we investigated whether EEG theta power could reflect this mechanism, in a sample of healthy individuals performing a stop-signal paradigm. By comparing frontal theta power preceding failed versus successful stop trials, we tested whether frontal theta is predictive of inhibition success. We hypothesized that proactive cognitive control manifests in frontal theta power preceding a countermanding go-stop event. Our results demonstrate that frontal theta is indeed higher preceding successful as compared to preceding failed stopping events. We also show that frontal theta power preceding stopping events is associated with Stop-Signal Reaction Times (SSRT), with a higher theta being indicative of shorter SSRTs. This association was not present for go-RT. This study may be the first to reveal a relationship between lower frontal theta power and subsequent stopping failure, suggesting thetas role in proactive response inhibition.

Mathematics achievement can be influenced by negative emotions and expectations related to numerical tasks. Individuals with high mathematics anxiety often show poorer numerical performance. This study investigated the neural mechanisms underlying different levels of numerical processing associated with mathematics anxiety using number line estimation and arithmetic verification tasks during fMRI. Participants were classified into high (n=22, age=23.09{+/-}2.22) and low (n=24, age=22.67{+/-}3.29) mathematics anxiety groups based on detailed screening prior to scanning. Trait and test anxiety were also assessed to capture broader anxiety-related characteristics. Before the fMRI session, participants completed assessments of calculation performance and digit span, and a mock MRI session was used to reduce scanner-related stress. Participants completed task and control conditions for each numerical task during fMRI. Neuroimaging findings were analyzed before and after statistically controlling for trait and test anxiety. Results showed that low mathematics anxiety was associated with greater frontal eye field activity during number-space mapping and stronger supramarginal gyrus activity during arithmetic computation compared with high mathematics anxiety. Controlling for general anxiety revealed a dissociation between mathematics anxiety-specific and general anxiety-related neural effects. Overall, mathematics anxiety selectively influenced attentional and memory mechanisms, whereas broader anxiety processes engaged distinct motor and cognitive systems. Key PointsO_LIMathematics anxiety differentially modulates neural activity across distinct numerical processes. C_LIO_LIMathematics anxiety selectively affects attentional and memory-related mechanisms, independent of general anxiety. C_LIO_LINeural differences in salience and motor-related regions are better explained by general anxiety rather than mathematics anxiety. C_LI

Interoception, the sense of inner bodily signals, plays a key role in emotional regulation, cognition and mental health. While its relevance in adulthood has been extensively explored, less is known about how these abilities develop during adolescence, a period characterised by significant physical and psychological changes. This study aimed to investigate three distinct dimensions of interoception -- accuracy, sensitivity and awareness -- in adolescents and adults to better understand the developmental profile of this sense. Fifty-four adolescents (aged 12-14) and 50 adults (aged 25-34) completed the Heartbeat Monitoring Task to assess their actual ability to detect heartbeats, their confidence in this ability, and the confidence-accuracy correspondence, and a questionnaire on the tendency to focus on bodily sensations. The study also examined where participants localised bodily sensations during the interoceptive task. The results revealed no significant differences in interoceptive accuracy between the two groups. Both age groups exhibited similar body localisation patterns, primarily focusing on the chest during heartbeat detection. However, adolescents showed significantly lower metacognitive awareness of their ability to perceive internal bodily sensations, and higher focus on interoceptive sensations, as reflected in their higher confidence ratings and questionnaire scores. No significant correlations emerged among the three interoceptive dimensions in either group, which supports the view that these dimensions represent independent components of interoception. These findings suggest that, while basic interoceptive detection may be established by early adolescence, the capacity to accurately reflect on these internal sensations continues to mature into adulthood. The mismatch observed between adolescents heightened bodily focus and their limited metacognitive insight may partly help explain why adolescence is a period of increased vulnerability to mental health difficulties.