Emotional Information Recruits Specific Neural Dynamics to Support Hierarchical Cognitive Control

Abstract

Hierarchical cognitive control supports flexible behavior guided by abstract goals; however, how emotional information modulates the underlying neural dynamics across hierarchy levels remains unclear. To fill this gap, we designed emotional and non-emotional hierarchical cognitive control paradigms, with hierarchical demands manipulated by varying abstraction levels of task rules. Forty-one participants performed the experiment, with electroencephalography (EEG) and eye-tracking data simultaneously recorded. By aligning EEG with eye-tracking data through time-locked analyses, we characterized oscillatory dynamics of each hierarchy level, integrating single-frequency (power spectral density, PSD) and cross-frequency (phase-amplitude coupling, PAC) features. Results showed that increasing hierarchical demands enhanced PSD across multiple frequency bands in both emotional and non-emotional contexts. Both contexts also exhibited enhanced narrowband delta-beta PAC with increasing abstraction. Importantly, emotional hierarchical demands additionally elicited PAC patterns beyond those in non-emotional contexts, such as delta-alpha and alpha-beta couplings. Topographical clustering revealed that emotion-related PAC activity predominated in fronto-parietal and temporo-occipital regions. These findings suggest that while the brain utilizes general neural dynamics for processing abstract goals, emotional demands recruit additional neural resources to support it. Beyond elucidating how the brain integrates affect with abstract cognitive events, this study offers potential neurodynamic signatures and intervention targets for affective and cognitive disorders.