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Final Program


Final Congress Guide

Biomedical Sciences

100 Section - Individual differences in coping strategies influence prefrontal hemodynamics during phonemic fluency tasks

Tuesday, May 19, 2026
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM PT
Objectives :
This study examined whether individual differences in coping strategies are reflected in the temporal patterns of prefrontal hemodynamic responses during a phonemic verbal fluency task (PVFT). While coping styles and altered prefrontal hemodynamics have both been linked to major depressive disorders, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the progression from early depressive symptoms to major depressive disorders remain unclear.


Design: Seventy-four healthy young adults were enrolled. Coping styles (Task-, Emotion-, and Avoidance-oriented, including Distraction and Social Diversion) were assessed using the Japanese version of the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS), and participants were stratified into high and low coping-style groups based on normalized scores. Depressive symptoms were measured with the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and cognitive reserve was estimated using the Japanese Adult Reading Test (JART). During a PVFT, word production was recorded while portable functional near-infrared spectroscopy (P-NIRS; HOT-2000) measured hemoglobin concentration changes in lateral prefrontal and frontal pole (FP) regions. Hemodynamic responses were baseline-corrected using a control task and analyzed in consecutive 20-second windows (early, middle, late task, and post-task). Spearman’s correlations evaluated relationships among coping scores, PHQ-9, and JART. Mixed-effects repeated-measures models tested coping-group × time interactions.

Results:

Emotion-oriented coping was positively correlated with PHQ-9, and Avoidance-Distraction coping was negatively correlated with JART. No coping style was associated with PVFT performance. Mixed-effects analysis revealed a significant interaction between Distraction coping group and time in the left FP region. During the early 20-second task window, the low-Distraction group showed greater hemoglobin concentration changes than the high-Distraction group, even after controlling for JART.

Conclusion:

Although coping styles did not influence PVFT performance, Avoidance-Distraction coping modulated prefrontal hemodynamics during cognitive stress. The finding that individuals with lower Distraction coping exhibited greater left FP activation suggests that coping preferences influence neural responses, potentially revealing a neurobiological pathway linking coping styles to stress-related vulnerability.