Behavioral and computational signatures of visual working memory deficits in adolescents with anxiety disorder

Abstract

Pathological anxiety is one of the most common mental health problems in adolescents. It is well documented that working memory, a core cognitive function, is often impaired in individuals with anxiety disorders. However, the computational mechanisms underlying these deficits in adolescents with anxiety disorder remain elusive. We used the classic delay-estimation visual working memory (VWM) task to assess the performance of adolescents with anxiety disorders (N = 39) and healthy controls (N = 41). Using a computational psychiatry approach, we tested 14 computational models established in basic research of VWM. Model comparison results identified the variable precision model as the best-fitting model for both groups, suggesting that the two groups share a qualitatively similar VWM process in completing the task. Subsequent analyses of the parameter estimates pointed to atypically reduced memory resources as the primary determinant of impaired VWM performance in adolescents with anxiety disorder. Crucially, the estimated memory resources in the anxious group predicted the severity of anxiety symptoms. Our results demonstrate that the reduced memory sources are the key factor mediating working memory deficits in adolescents with anxiety disorders, and this factor may also serve as a potential behavioral marker for future clinical interventions.