Verbal and Visuospatial Working Memory Performance During the CO 2 Challenge Model of Anxiety

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Abstract
Objective: Anxiety influences working memory performance, but the effects on clinical neuropsychological assessments of working memory are not well known. Methods: We examined the effect of anxiety, induced using the 7.5% carbon dioxide model of anxiety on standardized clinical neuropsychological tests of working memory and executive function in a single‐blind, placebo‐controlled, randomized, crossover within‐subjects design. Results: The CO 2 ‐challenge reduced spatial working memory performance and verbal working memory performance accuracy when task demands were high. The CO 2 ‐challenge increased effort and reduced processing efficiency across all verbal and spatial working memory tasks. Conclusions: The CO 2 ‐challenge resulted in significant reductions in working memory performance and processing efficiency. These results encourage the routine assessment of anxiety when administering and interpreting neuropsychological measures of working memory function in clinical practice.

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