A normal intensity level of psycho-physiological stress can benefit working memory performance at high load

Lai, Viet Dac; Theppitak, Chalermsiri; Makizuka, Tadao; Higuchi, Yoshiyuki; Movahed, Mehrnoosh; Kumudini, Ganga; Hayashi, Izumi; Kumashiro, Masaharu

doi:10.1016/j.ergon.2013.11.015

Cited by 21 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…We assume that it could be the speed rather than the accuracy of the behavioral response that is associated with stress reactivity. In accordance with this assumption, a couple of previous studies investigating the effect of stress on working memory also reported that stress affected the reaction time instead of the accuracy in N-back task and Sternberg working memory test (56,57). However, the absence in correlation between 3-back RT and cortisol reactivity might derive from its challenging load.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Working Memory Predicts Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Response to Psychosocial Stress in Males

Liu

Yuan

et al. 2020

Front. Psychiatry

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The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) function is crucial for adaptation to stress and recovery of homeostasis. Physiological alteration in the HPA axis has been shown to play a pivotal role in the generation of stress-related disorders. A growing number of studies have begun to identify which variables are possible to predict individual HPA response and associated stress vulnerability. The current study investigated the relationship between working memory and the subsequent magnitude of HPA response to psychosocial stress in a non-clinical population. Working memory was assessed utilizing an n-back task (2/3-back) in thirty-nine healthy young men, whose electroencephalograms were recorded. The HPA response was measured using the percentage increase in cortisol to an acute psychosocial stress protocol called the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Our results show that longer reaction time and smaller amplitude of P2 predict a relatively lower HPA response to stress. Our study provides new insights into how neurocognitive factors can be used to predict HPA response to acute stress.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Working Memory Predicts Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Response to Psychosocial Stress in Males

Liu

Yuan

et al. 2020

Front. Psychiatry

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“…* MWdor just workloadd"is the general term applied to describe the mental cost of executing task requirements" (Hart and Wickens, 1990;Wickens, 1992). It is difficult to match task demands and human capabilities (Lai et al, 2014). When a human operator experiences different workload demands in response to a task, his capacity to deal with those demands is crucial (Hopkin, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the mental workload of city traffic control operators while monitoring traffic density: A field study

Fallahi

Motamedzade

Heidarimoghadam

et al. 2016

International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics

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“…In recent years, studies have shown that exposure of humans to acute stressors influences cognitive processing and performance [e.g., ( 3 – 5 )]. Acute stress used in these studies refers to participants' psychobiological response to a brief laboratory stress induction paradigm, such as cold water pressure [also called cold pressor stress (CPS); e.g., ( 6 )], the Trier Social Stress Test [TSST; ( 7 )], short film clips [e.g., ( 8 , 9 )], and so on.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Up until now, some researchers have focused specifically on the effects of acute stress on human WM and the available data are equivocal. Literature shows that human WM performance after acute stress can be impaired ( 5 , 9 – 14 ), as well as improved, not affected, or both improved and impaired ( 3 , 6 , 8 , 15 – 20 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acute Exposure to the Cold Pressor Stress Impairs Working Memory Functions: An Electrophysiological Study

Zeng-you

Lei

et al. 2020

Front. Psychiatry

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The results of previous literature focusing on the effects of acute stress on human working memory (WM) are equivocal. The present study explored the effects of acute stress on human WM processing using event-related potential (ERP) techniques. Twenty-four healthy participants were submitted to stressful treatments and control treatment at different times. Cold pressor stress (CPS) was used as stressful treatment, while warm water was used as the control treatment before the WM task. Exposure to CPS was associated with a significant increase in blood pressure and salivary cortisol. After the 3-min resting period, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) for the CPS session significantly increased relative to the control treatment session (all p ≤ 0.01), and data also showed a significant increase of 20-min post-treatment cortisol concentration (p < 0.001) for CPS. Data from the CPS session showed significantly longer reaction times, lower accuracy, and WM capacity scores than that of the control treatment session. Interestingly, a difference between the two sessions was also found in N2pc and the late contralateral delay activity (late CDA) components. Specifically, although non-significant main effects of treatment were found for N2pc amplitudes, there was a significant interaction between treatments and stimuli conditions (processing load) [F(2,46) = 3.872, p = 0.028, η2 p = 0.14], which showed a pronounced trend toward equalization of N2pc amplitude across stimuli conditions during the CPS session clearly different from that of control treatment. As for amplitudes for late CDA, a nearly significant main effect of Treatment was found (p = 0.069). That is, the mean amplitude of the late CDA (−2.56 ± 0.27) for CPS treatment was slightly larger than that (−2.27 ± 0.22) for warm water treatment. To summarize, this study not only reported performance impairments in the WM task during CPS trials but also provided high temporal resolution evidence for the detrimental effects of acute stress on processes of information encoding and maintenance.

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A normal intensity level of psycho-physiological stress can benefit working memory performance at high load

Cited by 21 publications

References 38 publications

Working Memory Predicts Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Response to Psychosocial Stress in Males

Working Memory Predicts Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Response to Psychosocial Stress in Males

Analysis of the mental workload of city traffic control operators while monitoring traffic density: A field study

Acute Exposure to the Cold Pressor Stress Impairs Working Memory Functions: An Electrophysiological Study

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