Anxious apprehension increases coupling of delta and beta oscillations

Recent findings showing that anxiety is associated with enhanced coupling of EEG rhythms imply higher information exchange between populations of neurons associated with different oscillatory systems. In this study, influence of uncertainty on alpha–delta anticorrelation and delta–beta coupling was studied in 39 subjects (27 females) aged 19 to 30 years who also filled out the State Trait Anxiety Inventory. A measure of alpha–delta anticorrelation showed trait-like properties being uniformly higher in high trait anxiety subjects independent of experimental manipulation. Contrariwise, delta–beta coupling appeared only in anxiogenic situation both in high and low anxiety subjects.