Stress and Memory: A Selective Review on Recent Developments in the Understanding of Stress Hormone Effects on Memory and Their Clinical Relevance

Abstract

Stress causes a neuroendocrine response cascade, leading to the release of catecholamines and glucocorticoids (GCs). GCs influence learning and memory by acting on mineralocorticoid (MR) and glucocorticoid (GR) receptors. Typically, GCs enhance the consolidation of memory processing at the same time as impairing the retrieval of memory of emotionally arousing experiences. The present selective review addresses four recent developments in this area. First, the role of the endocannabinoid system in mediating the rapid, nongenomic effects of GCs on memory is illustrated in rodents. Subsequently, studies on the impact of the selective stimulation of MRs on different memory processes in humans are summarised. Next, a series of human experiments on the impact of stress or GC treatment on fear extinction and fear reconsolidation is presented. Finally, the clinical relevance of the effects of exogenous GC administration is highlighted by the description of patients with anxiety disorders who demonstrate an enhancement of extinction-based therapies by GC treatment. The review highlights the substantial progress made in our mechanistic understanding of the memory-modulating properties of GCs, as well as their clinical potential.

A Prospective Cohort Evaluation of the Cortisol Response to Cardiac Surgery with Occurrence of Early Postoperative Cognitive Decline

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Stress promotes generalization of older but not recent threat memories

“…Much of this research has focused predominately on how acute and chronic stress impairs threat extinction to conditioned stimuli (CS) or contexts via structural and functional changes in the neural circuitry involved in the learning (10), consolidation (11), and retrieval (12) of extinction memories (see ref. 13 for review). In humans, a single episode of acute stress can impair retrieval of cued threat extinction after a delay (14), consistent with studies of patients with PTSD showing deficits in the ability to retain extinction memories following standard extinction procedures (15).…”

Testosterone, Cortisol and Financial Risk-Taking

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