Postlearning stress differentially affects memory for emotional gist and detail in naturally cycling women and women on hormonal contraceptives.

Abstract

Sex differences in emotional memory have received increasing interest over the past decade. However, to date, no work has explored how a post-learning stressor might modulate the influence of sex hormone status on memory for gist and peripheral detail in an emotional versus neutral context. Here, we tested three predictions. First, compared to naturally cycling women (NC women) in the luteal phase, women on hormonal contraception (HC women) would have significantly blunted HPA reactivity to physical stress. Second, post-learning stress would enhance detail and gist memory from an emotional story in NC women, and finally, post-learning stress would not affect emotional memory for details or gist in HC women. Healthy NC and HC women viewed a brief, narrated story containing neutral or emotionally arousing elements. Immediately after, Cold Pressor Stress (CPS) or a control procedure was administered. One week later, participants received a surprise free recall test for story elements. NC women exhibited significantly greater cortisol increases to CPS compared to HC women. NC women who viewed the emotional story and were administered CPS recalled the most peripheral details overall and more gist from the emotional compared to the neutral story. In HC women, however, the postlearning cortisol release did not affect memory for gist or peripheral details from the emotional or neutral story in any way. Additionally, NC and HC women performed similarly on measures of attention and arousal. These findings suggest that in women, post-learning stress differentially affects memory for emotional information depending on their hormonal contraceptive status.

Stress at the place of work and cognitive functions among women performing intellectual work during peri- and post-menopausal period

“…The analysis of results did not reveal any significant correlations with cognitive functions and stress; however, the available studies show that this area is important for scientific verification. The available results indicate, among others, that the differences in the performance of cognitive tasks are observed after a stressful event among women in the follicular phase, and those in the luteal phase of the menstruation cycle [33], or differences in emotional memory among women in the luteal phase of the menstruation cycle, and those who use hormonal contraception [34]. Here, the importance of hormones seems to be the key issue, which may certainly be reflected during the peri-menopausal period and after the menopause.…”

Sex differences in anxiety disorders: Interactions between fear, stress, and gonadal hormones

“…The higher prevalence of anxiety- and stress-related mental illness in women may also be associated with these changes, as it appears during puberty and lasts until menopause (Hyde, Mezulis, & Abramson, 2008; Kessler, McGonagle, Swartz, Blazer, & Nelson, 1993; Nolen-Hoeksema & Girgus, 1994; Silberg et al, 1999; Sonnenberg, Beekman, Deeg, & van Tilburg, 2000; Kaltiala-Heino, Kosunen, & Rimpelä, 2003; Piccinelli & Wilkinson, 2000). Just as for fear extinction recall, women taking hormonal contraceptives exhibit differences in emotional responding, such as blunted stress responses and memory for different aspects of an emotional story compared to those that are naturally cycling (Nielsen, Ahmed, & Cahill, 2014; Nielsen, Ertman, Lakhani, & Cahill, 2011; Nielsen, Segal, Worden, Yim, & Cahill, 2013). However, it is important to note that in this study, menstrual phase, which can also be influencing these effects, was not accounted for in the naturally cycling group.…”

Actions and interactions of estradiol and glucocorticoids in cognition and the brain: Implications for aging women

“…Likewise, women tested during the high E2 phase of the menstrual cycle showed lower stress-related activation of the anterior cingulate gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex, medial and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus than men (Goldstein et al, 2010), with similar activational differences in women tested during the low E2 versus higher E2 phases of the menstrual cycle (Goldstein et al, 2005). Furthermore, women using hormone contraception show additionally blunted cortisol responses compared with naturally cycling women, possibly as a result of the ethinyl estradiol in these forms of contraception (Kirschbaum et al, 1999; Nielsen et al, 2014; Nielsen et al, 2013). Evidence in young-adult men also suggests that E2 dampens sympathetic responses to a stressor, with just one day of E2 treatment resulting in blunted systolic blood pressure, pulse rate, epinephrine, and norepinephrine responses to a mental stressor (Del Rio et al, 1994).…”