Chronic stress affects brain function, so assessing its hazards is important for mental health. To overcome the limitations of behavioral data, we combined behavioral and event-related potentials (ERPs) in an attention network task. This task allowed us to differentiate between three specific aspects of attention: alerting, orienting, and execution. Forty-one participants under chronic stress and 31 non-stressed participants were enrolled. On the performance level, the chronically stressed group showed a significantly slower task response and lower accuracy. Concerning ERP measures, smaller cue–N1, cue–N2, and larger cue–P3 amplitudes were found in the stressed group, indicating that this group was less able to assign attention to effective information, i.e., they made inefficient use of cues and had difficulty in maintaining alerting. In addition, the stressed group showed larger target–N2 amplitudes, indicating that this group needed to allocate more cognitive resources to deal with the conflict targets task. Subgroup analysis revealed lower target–P3 amplitudes in the stressed than in the non-stressed group. Group differences associated with the attention networks were found at the ERP level. In the stressed group, excessive depletion of resources led to changes in attention control. In this study, we examined the effects of chronic stress on individual executive function from a neurological perspective. The results may benefit the development of interventions to improve executive function in chronically stressed individuals.

慢性压力会影响大脑功能，因此评估其危害对心理健康很重要。为了克服行为数据的局限性，我们在注意力网络任务中结合了行为和事件相关电位 (ERP)。这项任务使我们能够区分注意力的三个特定方面：警觉、定向和执行。招募了 41 名处于慢性压力下的参与者和 31 名无压力的参与者。在表现水平上，长期压力组表现出明显较慢的任务反应和较低的准确性。关于 ERP 测量，在压力组中发现更小的提示-N1、提示-N2 和更大的提示-P3 振幅，表明该组不太能够将注意力分配到有效信息上，即，他们对提示的使用效率低下，并且难以保持警觉。此外，压力组表现出更大的目标-N2 振幅，表明该组需要分配更多的认知资源来处理冲突目标任务。亚组分析显示，压力组的目标-P3 振幅低于非压力组。在 ERP 级别发现了与注意力网络相关的群体差异。在压力组中，资源的过度消耗导致注意力控制发生变化。在这项研究中，我们从神经学角度研究了慢性压力对个体执行功能的影响。结果可能有益于干预措施的发展，以改善长期压力大的个体的执行功能。亚组分析显示，压力组的目标-P3 振幅低于非压力组。在 ERP 级别发现了与注意力网络相关的群体差异。在压力组中，资源的过度消耗导致注意力控制发生变化。在这项研究中，我们从神经学角度研究了慢性压力对个体执行功能的影响。结果可能有益于干预措施的发展，以改善长期压力大的个体的执行功能。亚组分析显示，压力组的目标-P3 振幅低于非压力组。在 ERP 级别发现了与注意力网络相关的群体差异。在压力组中，资源的过度消耗导致注意力控制发生变化。在这项研究中，我们从神经学角度研究了慢性压力对个体执行功能的影响。结果可能有益于干预措施的发展，以改善长期压力大的个体的执行功能。我们从神经学的角度研究了慢性压力对个体执行功能的影响。结果可能有益于干预措施的发展，以改善长期压力大的个体的执行功能。我们从神经学的角度研究了慢性压力对个体执行功能的影响。结果可能有益于干预措施的发展，以改善长期压力大的个体的执行功能。