Publication Cover
Stress
The International Journal on the Biology of Stress
Volume 14, 2011 - Issue 2
1,516
Views
48
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Research Reports

The impact of cortisol reactivity to acute stress on memory: Sex differences in middle-aged people

, , , , &
Pages 117-127 | Received 08 Mar 2010, Accepted 06 Aug 2010, Published online: 31 Oct 2010

References

  • Adler NE, Epel ES, Castellazzo G, Ickovics JR. 2000. Relationship of subjective and objective social status with psychological and physiological functioning: Preliminary data in healthy, white women. Health Psychol. 19 6: 586–592.
  • Allsworth JE, Weitzen S, Boardman LA. 2005. Early age at menarche and allostatic load: Data from the Third Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Ann Epidemiol. 15 6: 438–444.
  • Alves SE, McEwen BS. 1999. Estrogen and brain function: Implications for aging and dementia. Handb Exp Pharmacol. 135:315–328.
  • Andreano JM, Arjomandi H, Cahill L. 2008. Menstrual cycle modulation of the relationship between cortisol and long-term memory. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 33 6: 874–882.
  • Baggert HL, Saab PG, Carver CS. 1996. Appraisal, coping, task performance, and cardiovascular responses during the evaluated speaking task. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 22 5: 483–494.
  • Bohnen N, Houx P, Nicolson N, Jolles J. 1990. Cortisol reactivity and cognitive performance in a continuous mental task paradigm. Biol Psychol. 31 2: 107–116.
  • de Kloet ER, Oitzl MS, Joëls M. 1999. Stress and cognition: Are corticosteroids good or bad guys?. Trends Neurosci. 22:422–426.
  • de Quervain DJ-F, Aerni A, Schelling G, Roozendaal B. 2009. Glucocorticoids and the regulation of memory in health and disease. Front Neuroendocrinol. 30:358–370.
  • Desai HD, Jann MW. 2000. Major depression in women: A review of the literature. J Am Pharm Assoc (Wash). 40 4: 525–537.
  • Dewar MT, Cowan N, Sala SD. 2007. Forgetting due to retroactive interference: A fusion of Müller and Pilzecker's (1900) early insights into everyday forgetting and recent research on anterograde amnesia. Cortex. 43 5: 616–634.
  • Diamond DM, Campbell AM, Park CR, Halonen J, Zoladz PR. 2007. The temporal dynamics model of emotional memory processing: A synthesis on the neurobiological basis of stress-induced amnesia, flashbulb and traumatic memories, and the Yerkes-Dodson law. Neural Plast. 2007:60803.
  • Dickerson SS, Kemeny ME. 2004. Acute stressors and cortisol responses: A theoretical integration and synthesis of laboratory research. Psychol Bull. 130 3: 355–391.
  • Domes G, Heinrichs M, Reichwald U, Hautzinger M. 2002. Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis reactivity to psychological stress and memory in middle-aged women: High responders exhibit enhanced declarative memory performance. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 27 7: 843–853.
  • Domes G, Heinrichs M, Rimmele U, Reichwald U, Hautzinger M. 2004. Acute stress impairs recognition for positive words–Association with stress-induced cortisol secretion. Stress. 7 3: 173–181.
  • Domes G, Rothfischer J, Reichwald U, Hautzinger M. 2005. Inverted-U function between salivary cortisol and retrieval of verbal memory after hydrocortisone treatment. Behav Neurosci. 119:512–517.
  • Ellis BJ, Garber J. 2000. Psychosocial antecedents of variation in girls' pubertal timing: Maternal depression, stepfather presence, and marital and family stress. Child Dev. 71 2: 485–501.
  • Galloway EM, Woo NH, Lu B. 2008. Persistent neural activity in the prefrontal cortex: A mechanism by which BDNF regulates working memory?. Prog Brain Res. 169:251–266.
  • Gonzalez-Bono E, Moya-Albiol L, Salvador A, Carrillo E, Ricarte J, Gomez-Amor J. 2002. Anticipatory autonomic response to a public speaking task in women: The role of trait anxiety. Biol Psychol. 60 1: 37–49.
  • Harlow BL, Cohen LS, Otto MW, Spiegelman D, Cramer DW. 2004. Early life menstrual characteristics and pregnancy experiences among women with and without major depression: The Harvard study of moods and cycles. J Affect Disord. 79:167–176.
  • Hedden T, Park D. 2001. Aging and interference in verbal working memory. Psychol Aging. 16 4: 666–681.
  • Herman JP, Ostrander MM, Mueller NK, Figueiredo H. 2005. Limbic system mechanisms of stress regulation: Hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenocortical axis. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 29 8: 1201–1213.
  • Holmes MC, Seckl JR. 2006. The role of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases in the brain. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 248 1–2: 9–14.
  • Jelicic M, Geraerts E, Merckelbach H, Guerrieri R. 2004. Acute stress enhances memory for emotional words, but impairs memory for neutral words. Int J Neurosci. 114 10: 1343–1351.
  • Kajantie E, Phillips DIW. 2006. The effects of sex and hormonal status on the physiological response to acute psychosocial stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 31 2: 151–178.
  • Keane TM, Marshall AD, Taft CT. 2006. Posttraumatic stress disorder: Etiology, epidemiology, and treatment outcome. Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2 1: 161–197.
  • Kirschbaum C, Pirke K, Hellhammer DH. 1993. The “Trier Social Stress Test”: A tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting. Neuropsychobiology. 28 1–2: 76–81.
  • Kudielka BM, Kirschbaum C. 2005. Sex differences in HPA axis responses to stress: A review. Biol Psychol. 69 1: 113–132.
  • Kudielka BM, Buske-Kirschbaum A, Hellhammer DH, Kirschbaum C. 2004. HPA axis responses to laboratory psychosocial stress in healthy elderly adults, younger adults, and children: Impact of age and gender. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 29 1: 83–98.
  • Kudielka BM, Hellhammer DH, Wüst S. 2009. Why do we respond so differently? Reviewing determinants of human salivary cortisol responses to challenge. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 34 1: 2–18.
  • Laitinen J, Power C, Jarvelin MR. 2001. Family social class, maternal body mass index, childhood body mass index, and age at menarche as predictors of adult obesity. Am J Clin Nutr. 74:287–294.
  • Lezak MD, Howieson DB, Loring DW, Hannay HJ, Fischer JS. 2004. Neuropsychological assessment. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Lovallo WR, Farag NH, Vincent AS. 2010. Use of a resting control day in measuring the cortisol response to mental stress: Diurnal patterns, time of day, and gender effects. Psychoneuroendocrinlogy. 35 8: 1253–1258.
  • Lupien SJ, Schramek TE. 2006. The differential effects of stress on memory consolidation and retrieval: A potential involvement of reconsolidation? Theoretical comment on Beckner et al. (2006). Behav Neurosci. 120 3: 735–738.
  • Lupien SJ, Gaudreau S, Tchiteya BM, Maheu F, Sharma S, Nair NPV, Hauger RL, McEwen BS, Meaney MJ. 1997. Stress-induced declarative memory impairment in healthy elderly subjects: Relationship to cortisol reactivity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 82 7: 2070–2075.
  • Lupien SJ, de Leon M, de Santi S, Convit A, Tarshish C, Nair NPV, Thakur M, McEwen BS, Hauger RL, Meaney MJ. 1998. Cortisol levels during human aging predict hippocampal atrophy and memory deficits. Nat Neurosci. 1 1: 69–73.
  • Lupien SJ, Gillin CJ, Hauger RL. 1999. Working memory is more sensitive than declarative memory to the acute effects of corticosteroids: A dose-response study in humans. Behav Neurosci. 113:420–430.
  • Lupien SJ, Fiocco A, Wan N, Maheu F, Lord C, Schramek T, Tu MT. 2005. Stress hormones and human memory function across the lifespan. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 30 3: 225–242.
  • Lupien SJ, Maheu F, Tu M, Fiocco A, Schramek TE. 2007. The effects of stress and stress hormones on human cognition: Implications for the field of brain and cognition. Brain Cogn. 65 3: 209–237.
  • Lupien SJ, McEwen BS, Gunnar MR, Heim C. 2009. Effects of stress through the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition. Nat Rev Neurosci. 10:434–445.
  • McCormick CM, Mathews IZ. 2010. Adolescent development, hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal function, and programming of adult learning and memory. Prog Neuro-Psychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 34 5: 756–765.
  • McEwen BS. 2002. Sex, stress and the hippocampus: Allostasis, allostatic load and the aging process. Neurobiol Aging. 23 5: 921–939.
  • Miranda JP, Valencia RR. 1997. English and Spanish versions of a memory test: Word-length effects versus spoken-duration effects. Hisp J Behav Sci. 19 2: 171–181.
  • Mucci LA, Kuper HE, Tamimi R, Lagiou P, Spanos E, Trichopoulos D. 2001. Age at menarche and age at menopause in relation to hepatocellular carcinoma in women. BJOG. 108 3: 291–294.
  • Otte C, Hart S, Neylan TC, Marmar CR, Yaffe K, Mohr DC. 2005. A meta-analysis of cortisol response to challenge in human aging: Importance of gender. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 30 1: 80–91.
  • Patel PD, Lopez JF, Lyons DM, Burke S, Wallace M, Schatzberg AF. 2000. Glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptor mRNA expression in squirrel monkey brain. J Psychiatr Res. 34 6: 383–392.
  • Payne JD, Jackson ED, Ryan L, Hoscheidt S, Jacobs WJ, Nadel L. 2006. The impact of stress on neutral and emotional aspects of episodic memory. Memory. 14 1: 1–16.
  • Peeters PHM, Verbeek ALM, Krol A, Matthyssen MMM, de Waard F. 1995. Age at menarche and breast cancer risk in nulliparous women. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 33 1: 55–61.
  • Pruessner JC, Kirschbaum C, Meinlschmid G, Hellhammer DH. 2003. Two formulas for computation of the area under the curve represent measures of total hormone concentration versus time-dependent change. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 28:916–931.
  • Romeo RD. 2010. Pubertal maturation and programming of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal reactivity. Front Neuroendocrinol. 31:232–240.
  • Sandi C, Pinelo-Nava MT. 2007. Stress and memory: Behavioral effects and neurobiological mechanisms. Neural Plast. 2007:78970.
  • Sandín B, Chorot P, Lostao L, Joiner TE, Santed MA, Valiente RM. 1999. The PANAS scales of positive and negative affect: Factor analytic validation and cross-cultural convergence. Psicothema. 11 1: 37–51.
  • Sapolsky RM. 2000. Glucocorticoids and hippocampal atrophy in neuropsychiatric disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 57 10: 925–935.
  • Schwabe L, Bohringer A, Chatterjee M, Schachinger H. 2008. Effects of pre-learning stress on memory for neutral, positive and negative words: Different roles of cortisol and autonomic arousal. Neurobiol Learn and Mem. 90 1: 44–53.
  • Scoville WB, Milner B. 1957. Loss of recent memory after bilateral hippocampal lesions. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatr. 20:11–21.
  • Seeman TE, Robbins RJ. 1994. Aging and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal response to challenge in humans. Endocr Rev. 15 2: 233–260.
  • Seeman TE, Singer B, Charpentier P. 1995. Gender differences in patterns of HPA axis response to challenge: MacArthur studies of successful aging. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 20 7: 711–725.
  • Seeman TE, McEwen BS, Singer BH, Albert MS, Rowe JW. 1997. Increase in urinary cortisol excretion and memory declines: MacArthur studies of successful aging. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 82 8: 2458–2465.
  • Seeman TE, Singer B, Wilkinson CW, McEwen B. 2001. Gender differences in age-related changes in HPA axis reactivity. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 26 3: 225–240.
  • Seisdedos N. 1988. State-trait anxiety inventory, TEA Ediciones, Madrid.
  • Shors TJ. 2006. Stressful experience and learning across the lifespan. Annu Rev Psychol. 57:55–85.
  • Smeets T, Jelicic M, Merckelbach H. 2006. The effect of acute stress on memory depends on word valence. Int J Psychophysiol. 62 1: 30–37.
  • Smeets T, Giesbrecht T, Jelicic M, Merckelbach H. 2007. Context-dependent enhancement of declarative memory performance following acute psychosocial stress. Biol Psychol. 76 1–2: 116–123.
  • Spielberger CD, Gorsuch RL, Lushene RE. 1970. Manual for the State-trait anxiety inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
  • Traustadóttir T, Bosch PR, Matt KS. 2003. Gender differences in cardiovascular and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis responses to psychological stress in healthy older adult men and women. Stress. 6 2: 133–140.
  • Vierhapper H, Heinze G, Nowotny P. 2007. Sex-specific difference in the interconversion of cortisol and cortisone in men and women. Obesity. 15 4: 820–824.
  • Watson D, Clark LA, Tellegen A. 1988. Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. J Pers Soc Psychol. 54 6: 1063–1070.
  • Wolf OT, Kudielka BM, Hellhammer DH, Hellhammer J, Kirschbaum C. 1998. Opposing effects of DHEA replacement in elderly subjects on declarative memory and attention after exposure to a laboratory stressor. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 23 6: 617–629.
  • Wolf OT, Convit A, McHugh PF, Kandil E, Thorn EL, de Santi S, McEwen BS. 2001. Cortisol differentially affects memory in young and elderly men. Behav Neurosci. 115 5: 1002–1011.
  • Wolf OT, Dziobek I, McHugh P, Sweat V, de Leon MJ, Javier E, Convit A. 2005. Subjective memory complaints in aging are associated with elevated cortisol levels. Neurobiol Aging. 26 10: 1357–1363.
  • Yerkes RM, Dodson JD. 1908. The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit formation. J Comp Neurol Psychol. 18 5: 459–482.
  • Young E. 2009. Stress, the HPA axis and depressive illness. In: Squire Larry R. editors. Encyclopedia of neuroscience. Oxford: Academic Press. p 543–548.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.