How the brain negotiates divergent executive processing demands: Evidence of network reorganization during fleeting brain states

During performance in everyday contexts, multiple networks draw from shared executive resources to maintain attention, regulate arousal, and problem solve. At times, requirements for attention and self-regulation appear to be in competition for a “limited pool” of resources. How does the brain attempt to resolve conflicts arising from multiple processing demands? In the present study, participants were exposed to either a stress or control prime, after which electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was recorded as they solved math problems. Phase-locking was examined within four networks implicated in math-solving and evaluative stress: frontopareital (FP), default mode (DM), emotion generation (EG), and emotion regulation (ER) networks. Findings revealed differing strategies, depending on the presence of stress: states dominated by frontopareital and emotion regulation network dynamics supported optimum performance generally, while during stress, states dominated by emotion regulation and default mode networks are more important for performance. Implications for networks’ cooperative dynamics and DMN’s role in coping are considered.