Stress, Glucocorticoids, and Memory: A Meta-analytic Review

Abstract

Although a strong psychoneuroendocrine linkage exists between stress, glucocorticoids and memory, the relationship is not always straightforward. Eighty-eight effect sizes and 1642 participants from 28 studies were meta-analyzed for the effects of stress on memory performance and glucocorticoid activation. Analyses showed that stress was associated with glucocorticoid activation and declarative memory decline. In animal studies, predator stress affected memory performance more than physical stress. In human studies, males showed higher cortisol levels than females in response to stress. Further, the correlation between cortisol levels and memory deficits was stronger in studies using laboratory stressors than those examining long term effects of chronic exposure to rising basal levels of glucocorticoids and chronic life stressors. It was concluded that, although the relationship between stress, glucocorticoids, and memory loss was empirically supported, there were other factors, such as stress condition and gender, as well as individual differences within groups, that influenced the association between these variables, and warrant further examination.

Cognitive Performance and Morning Levels of Salivary Cortisol and α-Amylase in Children Reporting High vs. Low Daily Stress Perception

“…delayed memory task when compared to a placebo condition, while the administration of high dose of GCs at the time of the circadian trough had a positive impact on cognitive efficiency. These findings are consistent with the results reported here with the notable difference that in our study we examined long term effects of chronic life stressors in contrast of these studies using laboratory stressors and exogenous administration of synthetic GCs (Sauro, Jorgensen, & Pedlow, 2003). Is well known that regions of the amygdala and hippocampus, which contains GRs and MRs, participate in a memory system specific to autobiographical (or episodic) events (Fink et al, 1996) in which moderate concentrations of cortisol has a facilitator effect on memory while high or low levels are associated to cognitive impairments (Akirav & Richter-Levin, 2002;Roozendaal, 1999).…”

Performance on a declarative memory task is better in high than low cortisol responders to psychosocial stress

“…Glucocorticoids (GCs), the main output substance of the HPA axis, are hormones that can easily pass the blood-brain barrier, thus affecting a variety of memory-related brain areas via specific intracellular receptors or via the interaction of the hormone with neurotransmitter receptors on the cell surface (Sauro et al, 2003;Het et al, 2005). Several studies have confirmed the effect of increased levels of GCs on different memory processes (Roozendaal, 2002).…”

Steroid and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, cognitive decline, and dementia

“…Surprisingly, genetic vulnerability has also not been considered despite a possible interactive effect between cortisol levels and apolipoproteinE allele (APOE (Lee et al, 2008). Finally, gender differences have not been examined although they have been reported in relation to both stress response and association between cortisol levels and cognitive decline and neural activity (Otte et al, 2005;Sauro et al, 2003;Seeman et al, 1997;Wang et al, 2007;Beluche et al, 2010) as well as in risk profiles for cognitive impairment and progression to dementia (Artero et al, 2008).…”