Time-frequency plots showing stress induction by sex interaction.

<p>(A) Time-frequency plots for the difference between control and stress trials, for males (left) and females (right). (B) Time-frequency plots for the difference between males and females, in control trials (left) and stress trials (right). The plots show relative power (dB) at FCz. Only for the time-frequency plots, relative power averages were converted to a decibel (dB) scale, enabling comparison between different frequencies. Line boxes highlight larger theta power increases in the control relative to the stress condition in both sexes. Males only showed an effect of stress induction on early lower beta-band power, approaching significance (<i>p</i> = .053), with larger increases in the stress relative to the control condition. More pronounced increases in lower beta power were observed in males than in females. In the early interval, this sex difference was restricted to the stress condition, whereas in the late interval, this difference was observed for both conditions.