Differential effects of everyday stress on the episodic memory test performances of young, mid-life, and older adults

Abstract

This research explored the differential association of everyday stress with the episodic memory test performances of young, mid-life, and older adults. Participants included 98 community-dwelling adults ranging in age from 19-89 years. Everyday stress was assessed via the Perceived Stress Scale and the Elder Life Stress Inventory. A brief battery of episodic memory tasks was administered which included tests of Logical Memory, Verbal Paired Associates, Digit Symbol Substitution, and Digit Symbol Incidental Learning. Results suggest that everyday hassles and irritations as well as the accumulation of challenging life events may exacerbate age-related decline on episodic memory tests that require greater executive resources and more integrated and elaborative processing. The functional relationship between affective status and risk for dementia is discussed, and consideration of individual differences in everyday stress is suggested so as to allow more sensitive interpretation of episodic memory tests commonly used to discern mild cognitive impairment.

The association between social stress and global cognitive function in a population-based study: the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk study

“…findings are consistent with observational epidemiological studies(VonDras et al 2005 ;Johansson et al 2010), where self-perceived stress was found to be associated with cognitive impairment. The dose-response relationship between self-perceived stress and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) performance.…”

Perceived stress and everyday memory complaints among older adult women

“…Perceived stress may be particularly informative in healthy community samples such as the current study, where endorsement of depression symptoms may be low. Other research suggests that perceived stress may also influence objective memory and executive function performance among older adults (VonDras et al, 2005). One biological mechanism that may link perceived stress to subjective and objective memory deficits is the potentially detrimental effects that stress-induced glucocorticoid secretion can have on the hippocampus, which is a critical brain region for learning and memory (Lupien et al, 1999).…”

“…Email: guy.potter@duke.edu events and the associated experiences of stress, depression, or anxiety may introduce task-irrelevant distractions into daily life in a manner that challenges the efficient use of cognitive resources, which thereby may contribute to the perception of memory difficulty. This idea is supported by one finding that higher levels of perceived stress and stressful life events were associated with greater age-related differences on objective measures of episodic memory and executive functions (VonDras, Powless, Olson, Wheeler, & Snudden, 2005). Together, these results raise the question of how stressful events and perceived stress contribute to subjective memory complaints in older adults, which is important because the negative effects of stress be may modifiable by cognitive and behavioral interventions.…”

Action video game experience reduces the cost of switching tasks

“…To look for such effects, we assessed logical memory (i.e., memory for the details of a story), which has previously been used to demonstrate performance differences due to stress (e.g., VonDras, Powless, Olson, Wheeler, & Snudden, 2005) and medical malingering (e.g., Langeluddecke & Lucas, 2003). We predicted that logical memory would not be enhanced by action video game experience, thus revealing any motivational differences between the groups.…”