EEG theta and alpha biomarkers during an avoid-avoid conflict task: Links to anxiety

Goal conflict is central to anxiety processing, but certain forms of goal conflict, such as avoid-avoid, remain under-investigated in EEG research. This study adapted the Joystick Operated Runway Task (JORT) for use with EEG to explore neural biomarkers of goal conflict related to the Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS), a key component of Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST). A novel Trial Calibration System (TCS) was implemented to control motor activity and equate task difficulty across participants during high and low conflict conditions. Forty right-handed participants (aged 18–24) completed the EEG-adapted JORT, where conflict was manipulated by varying the speed of aversive stimuli. Behavioural data confirmed effective goal conflict induction: high conflict trials produced slower reaction times, more joystick movements, and a performance accuracy near 52 %, indicating a balanced conflict. EEG analyses using Current Source Density (CSD) transformations revealed increased right-frontal theta power and coherence during high conflict trials, consistent with BIS engagement. Left-frontal alpha power and coherence were more prominent during low conflict, while high conflict also produced elevated alpha power in parieto-occipital regions, suggesting roles in early threat detection and sensory integration. These results suggest that avoid-avoid goal conflict reliably activates BIS-related neural systems and that the updated JORT provides a valid method for studying anxiety-related biomarkers. Using a motor-calibrated framework, this is the first study to integrate EEG with an avoid-avoid conflict paradigm. Future work should examine pharmacological modulation and include clinical samples to further validate the specificity of the observed neural patterns for anxiety-related conflict processing.