Neural Mechanisms of Emotional Processing and Their Impact on Cognitive Control: A Focus on Anxiety and Positive Affect

The Faculty of Life Science and Medicine, King’s College London, London, SE1 9GU, United Kingdom

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Abstract

This review focuses on two commonly opposing moods — anxiety and positive affect. Both emotions rely on the same neural systems but shift their balance in different directions. Anxiety leads the system towards threat detection. Increased sensitivity to threat-related signals strengthens activity in limbic regions while weakening functional coordination with prefrontal control systems. As a result, cognitive control becomes more nervous, with reduced processing efficiency and less flexible executive regulation. In contrast, positive affect tends to promote a more balanced pattern of network activity. Dopaminergic modulation and stronger fronto-striatal and fronto-parietal connectivity support broader attentional scope and more flexible goal-directed behaviour. This state facilitates cognitive flexibility, working memory updating and adaptive control. Accordingly, anxiety and positive affect can be generally defined as two different configurations of the same large-scale networks, particularly the salience network and executive control systems in neural and neuromodulatory levels. This network-based approach offers an integrated explanation of the dynamic balance between negative and positive emotions regulating cognition across normal function and mental illness. This integrative perspective has important implications for understanding affective disorders, ageing-related cognitive decline, and interventions aimed at enhancing executive resilience.