Anxiety makes girls’ brains work harder

Anxiety makes girls’ brains work harder

By Margaret Rogers

In a study conducted by Michigan State University (MSU) it was found that the brains of anxious girls work much harder than the brains of boys.  It is thought that the study findings may help to identify and treat anxiety disorders. Read more about anxiety disorders here.

MSU researchers conducted an experiment in which students were asked to perform a quite simple task whilst wearing an electrode cap.  This cap measures brain activity.  They found that only girls who had reported that they were anxious or great worriers recorded high brain activity when they made mistakes during this simple task.

The lead researcher, Jason Moser, said that it is hoped that the findings may help mental healthcare professionals to determine which girls may be susceptible to anxiety disorders such as generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

Moser who is an assistant professor of psychology said ‘This may help predict the development of anxiety issues later in life for girls.  It’s one more piece of the puzzle for us to figure out why women in general have more anxiety disorders.’

This study examined the brain responses of 149 participants, 79 females and 70 male, who were all college students.  It is thought to be the first of its type to measure the correlation between worrying and error-related brain responses in both sexes.

The simple task that was used in this study was the identification of the middle letter in a series of five-letter groups on a computer screen.  The groups of letters included groupings of letters which were all the same (FFFFF), other groupings had different letters (EEFEE).  After completing this task the participants were asked to fill out questionnaires about how much they worry.  It was found that both sexes had similar outcomes as far as the results for correctly identifying the middle letter, however the brains of the females who ‘worried’ or were anxious had to work harder to achieve the correct answers.  As the task become more difficult, the worrisome females started to perform worse.

Moser said ‘Anxious girls’ brains have to work harder to perform tasks because they have distracting thoughts and worries.  As a result their brains are being kind of burned out by thinking so much, which might set them up for difficulties in school.  We already know that anxious kids, and especially anxious girls, have a harder time in some academic subjects such as maths.’

An investigation is currently being conducted by Moser and MSU researchers to find out whether oestrogen, a hormone which is more common in females, could be responsible for the increase in brain response.  It is already knows that oestrogen affects the release of dopamine which plays a key role in learning and processing mistakes in the front portion of the brain.

Moser concluded that there are ways to potentially reduce worry and improve focus.  He advocates writing your worries down rather than allowing them to stick in your head.  He also recommends doing ‘brain games’ designed to improve memory and concentration.