Effects of pre-learning stress on memory for neutral, positive and negative words: Different roles of cortisol and autonomic arousal.

Full Abstract

Stress can have enhancing or impairing effects on memory. Here, we addressed the effect of pre-learning stress on subsequent memory and asked whether neutral and emotionally valent information are differentially affected by specific stress components, autonomic arousal and stress-induced cortisol. Ninety-six healthy men and women underwent either a stressor (modified cold pressor test) or a control warm water exposure. During stress, participants showed comparable autonomic arousal (heart rate, blood pressure), while 60 percent showed an increase of cortisol (responders vs. 40 percent non-responders). Ten minutes after the cold pressor test neutral, positive and negative words were presented. Free recall was tested 1 and 24h later. Overall, positive and negative words were better recalled than neutral words. Stress enhanced the recall of neutral words independently of cortisol response. In contrast, the free recall of negative words was enhanced in cortisol responders in the 1-h but not 24-h test which might suggest different effects of cortisol on consolidation and reconsolidation processes. Recall for positive words was unaffected by stress-induced cortisol. To summarize, (i) pre-learning stress can enhance memory for neutral words independently of cortisol and (ii) stress effects on memory for negative words appear to rely on stress-induced cortisol elevations, the absence of this effect for positive words might be at least partly due to differences in arousal evoked by positive vs. negative words.

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Author information

Author/s: Schwabe, Lars (L); Bohringer, Andreas (A); Chatterjee, Monischa (M); Schachinger, Hartmut (H);

Affiliation: Department of Clinical Physiology, Institute of Psychobiology, University of Trier, Johanniterufer, 54294 Trier, Germany. schw1309(-atsign-)uni-trier.de

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Neurobiology of learning and memory (Neurobiol Learn Mem), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jul; vol 90 (issue 1) : pp 44-53

Dates: Created 2008/06/10; Completed 2008/09/03;

PMID: 18334304, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Arousal - physiology
Autonomic Nervous System - physiology
Blood Pressure
Cold
Emotions
Female
Heart Rate

Humans
Hydrocortisone - metabolism
Male
Mental Recall - physiology
Recognition (Psychology) - physiology
Saliva - metabolism
Semantics
Stress - physiopathology

Associated Chemicals: Hydrocortisone (50-23-7)

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