Emotion-Driven Writing Blocks: A Neurolinguistic Analysis of Anxiety Cognitive Dysfunction in Academic Writers

Writing anxiety is a prevalent yet understudied barrier to academic productivity, often manifesting as cognitive dysfunction and emotional overload. This study investigates the neural basis of emotion-driven writing blocks by examining how anxiety influences neural activity, specifically in the amygdala and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and evaluates the efficacy of two emotional regulation strategies: mindfulness and positive reframing. This study aimed to examine whether emotional regulation strategies could reduce neural indicators of writing anxiety. Anxiety was assessed using the Writing Anxiety Scale (WAS), and participants were 30 final-year university students who reported high levels of writing anxiety. Utilizing a within-subject fMRI experimental design, 30 final-year university students with high writing anxiety completed time-pressured argumentative writing tasks before and after brief interventions. Baseline anxiety levels did not significantly correlate with neural activation, nor were there notable differences in brain activity between high- and low-anxiety groups. However, post-intervention results revealed a statistically significant reduction in anxiety scores (p < .001, Cohen's d = 1.61), with positive reframing showing a stronger inhibitory effect on amygdala activation than mindfulness. Conclusion: These findings suggest that while writing anxiety may not uniformly manifest in brain activity, targeted emotional regulation strategies can meaningfully alter neural responses to writing stress. The study provides compelling evidence for integrating neuroscience-informed interventions into academic writing instruction, opening avenues for personalized, neuroadaptive pedagogy. This interdisciplinary approach redefines academic writing competence as a cognitive-affective process, demanding linguistic skill and emotional resilience.