Relationship between cortisol reactivity to psychosocial stress and declarative memory decline during aging: Impact of age and sex

Santos, Aline Talita dos; Leyendecker, D; Costa, Ana Lúcia Siqueira; Souza-Talarico, Juliana Nery de

doi:10.1111/ggi.13139

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…These results were manipulation checks, confirming the quality of our experimental protocol, given the robustness of these findings across the literature [ 35 , 36 , 37 ]. The second manipulation check performed on the memory task allowed us to be confident in the preliminary validity of the WSMT; namely, the presence of a decline of overall performance with age [ 67 ], higher performance in the immediate recall, and a generally better performance in women than in men [ 68 ]. These effects are also robustly found in the declarative memory literature [ 65 , 66 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex Differences in Work-Stress Memory Bias and Stress Hormones

et al. 2020

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Mental health problems related to chronic stress in workers appear to be sex-specific. Psychosocial factors related to work–life balance partly explain these sex differences. In addition, physiological markers of stress can provide critical information on the mechanisms explaining how chronic stress gets “under the skull” to increase vulnerability to mental health disorders in working men and women. Stress hormones access the brain and modulate attentional and memory process in favor of threatening information. In the present study, we tested whether male and female workers present a memory bias towards work-stress related information, and whether this bias is associated with concentrations of stress hormones in reactivity to a laboratory stressor (reactive levels) and samples taken in participants’ workday (diurnal levels). In total, 201 participants (144 women) aged between 18 and 72 years underwent immediate and delayed recall tasks with a 24-word list, split as a function of valence (work-stress, positive, neutral). Participants were exposed to a psychosocial stressor in between recalls. Reactivity to stress was measured with saliva samples before and after the stressor. Diurnal cortisol was also measured with five saliva samples a day, during 2 workdays. Our exploratory results showed that men presented greater cortisol reactivity to stress than women, while women recalled more positive and neutral words than men. No sex difference was detected on the recall of work-stress words, before or after exposure to stress. These results do not support the hypothesis of a sex-specific cognitive bias as an explanatory factor for sex differences in stress-related mental health disorders in healthy male and female workers. However, it is possible that such a work-stress bias is present in individuals who have developed a mental-health disorder related to workplace stress or who have had one in the recent past. Consequently, future studies could use our stress memory bias task to assess this and other hypotheses in diverse working populations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex Differences in Work-Stress Memory Bias and Stress Hormones

et al. 2020

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“…In addition, gender differences might play a role. Especially for effects of the TSST on cognitive performance, several studies explicitly emphasize the importance of gender (Cornelisse, van Stegeren, & Joels, 2011; Dos Santos, Leyendecker, Costa, & de Souza-Talarico, 2018; Espin et al, 2013; Schoofs, Pabst, Brand, & Wolf, 2013; Zandara et al, 2016). Our sample was restricted to females, thus it is unclear whether our results are applicable to men.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress effects on cognitive function in patients with major depressive disorder: Does childhood trauma play a role?

et al. 2019

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Impaired cognitive functioning constitutes an important symptom of major depressive disorder (MDD), potentially associated with elevated cortisol levels. Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) enhance the risk for MDD and can contribute to disturbances in the stress systems, including cortisol and cognitive functions. In healthy participants, cortisol administration as well as acute stress can affect cognitive performance. In the current study, we tested cognitive performance in MDD patients with (N = 32) and without (N = 52) ACE and healthy participants with (N = 22) and without (N = 37) ACE after psychosocial stress induction (Trier Social Stress Test, TSST) and a control condition (Placebo-TSST). MDD predicted lower performance in verbal learning and both selective and sustained attention, while ACE predicted lower performance in psychomotoric speed and working memory. There were no interaction effects of MDD and ACE. After stress, MDD patients were more likely to show lower performance in working memory as well as in selective and sustained attention compared with participants without MDD. Individuals with ACE were more likely to show lower performance in verbal memory after stress compared with individuals without ACE. Our results indicate negative effects of MDD and ACE on distinct cognitive domains. Furthermore, MDD and/or ACE seem to enhance susceptibility for stress-related cognitive impairments.

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“…Researchers have typically measured HRV stress reactivity in controlled, laboratory settings in which stress responses were measured before and after the administration of an acute psychosocial stressor (e.g., Stroop task, mirror tracing, Trier Social Stress Test) [ 17 , 18 ]. This methodology is limited, however, because laboratory stressors cannot capture the variety, severity, or duration of stressors that individuals face in their daily lives [ 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility of using ecological momentary assessment and continuous heart rate monitoring to measure stress reactivity in natural settings

Yang

Kershaw

2022

PLoS ONE

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The way people respond to stressful situations (i.e., stress reactivity) varies widely. Researchers typically measure stress reactivity in controlled studies, but this is limited because laboratory stressors cannot capture the variety, severity, or duration of stressors that individuals face in their daily lives. The present study examined the feasibility of using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and a wireless electrocardiography (ECG) patch to develop an understanding of stress reactivity in natural settings. Thirty-five adult women completed EMA surveys about stressors they were exposed to while wearing a wireless ECG monitor for 7 consecutive days. Daily stressors were measured using seven questions adapted from the Daily Inventory of Stressful Events and a stressor interval was defined as the presence of at least one stressor during the EMA survey prompt. Participants wore the Cardea SOLO wireless ECG monitor (Cardiac Insight Inc., Bellevue, WA) to continuously track their heart rate. Participant-specific differences in 5-minute heart rate variability (HRV) between intervals when participants did and did not report stressors were calculated and displayed in a heat map. Survey response rate was satisfactory (72.0%, n = 588) and nearly all participants (33 out of 35) reported both stressor and non-stressor intervals. Each participant reported at least one stressor on approximately 35% of completed surveys while wearing the ECG patch. Mean wear time (6.6 days) and the duration of analyzable data with an ECG monitor were close to the 7-day study period. While many participants had lower HRV during stressor versus non-stressor intervals, the magnitude and direction of these differences varied widely. In summary, we found that a 7-day sampling scheme combining ecological momentary assessment (EMA) with HRV measured using continuous ECG monitoring was feasible and effective in capturing a variety of daily stressors and measuring autonomic stress reactivity.

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Relationship between cortisol reactivity to psychosocial stress and declarative memory decline during aging: Impact of age and sex

Cited by 8 publications

References 29 publications

Sex Differences in Work-Stress Memory Bias and Stress Hormones

Sex Differences in Work-Stress Memory Bias and Stress Hormones

Stress effects on cognitive function in patients with major depressive disorder: Does childhood trauma play a role?

Feasibility of using ecological momentary assessment and continuous heart rate monitoring to measure stress reactivity in natural settings

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