Anxiety disorders alter cognitive-motor integration during visuomotor adaptation and retention.

Overview

1. School of Kinesiology, Louisiana State University, 2210 Huey P. Long Fieldhouse, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 USA
2. School of Allied Health and Communicative Disorders, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL USA

Abstract

Anxiety disorders are associated with prefrontal dysfunction, yet their impact on neural mechanisms underlying skilled motor learning remains poorly understood. We examined movement-readiness potentials (MRPs) using electroencephalography during a visuomotor adaptation task in 31 young adults (13 with clinically diagnosed anxiety disorders, 18 controls). MRPs were analyzed across three temporal components: early motor preparation (− 1500 to − 500 ms), late motor preparation (− 500 to − 100 ms), and movement execution (− 100 to + 100 ms). Individuals with anxiety disorders showed significantly reduced MRP amplitudes during late motor preparation (p = 0.033) and movement execution (p = 0.047) compared to controls, while early motor preparation remained intact. Despite these neural alterations, both groups demonstrated equivalent behavioral performance, with similar learning and retention of a visuomotor rotation task. Anxiety disorders selectively disrupt late-stage cognitive-motor integration processes during movement preparation and execution. The dissociation between impaired neural activity and preserved behavioral performance suggests compensatory mechanisms that maintain motor learning despite underlying neural inefficiencies. These findings reveal that anxiety affects integrated systems of cognition and action, providing new insights into their functional neurophysiological impact.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Data

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• osf:a65wk, at OSF; found in the text, “Results”

Data availability

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article are available by the authors at [https://osf.io/a65wk].

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Version 2, 28 September 2026

• Publisher: n/a → Springer Science+Business Media

Version 1, 28 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 3 authors, 6 keywords, 13 MeSH terms, 128 references.

Cite

This paper

Barzi, L., Wilson, M., & Hill, C. M. (2026). Anxiety disorders alter cognitive-motor integration during visuomotor adaptation and retention. Experimental brain research, 244(6), 113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-026-07304-y

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