STRESS-INDUCED AND TREATMENT-INDUCED ELEVATIONS OF CORTISOL-LEVELS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPAIRED DECLARATIVE MEMORY IN HEALTHY-ADULTS

Two studies investigated the association between cortisol levels and m emory performance in healthy adults. In a first study, 13 subjects wer e exposed to a brief psychosocial laboratory stress (''Trier Social St ress Test'') with a subsequent test of declarative memory performance. Results indicated a significant negative relationship between stress- induced cortisol levels and performance in the memory task, i.e. subje cts with high cortisol response to the stressor showed poorer memory p erformance. In a second experiment it was investigated if cortisol alo ne, i.e. independent of psychological stress, would also impair memory function. In this study, 40 healthy subjects received either 10 mg co rtisol or placebo orally. One hour later they were tested for procedur al and declarative memory and spatial thinking. Subjects who received cortisol showed impaired performance in the declarative memory and spa tial thinking tasks but not in the procedural memory task. From these results we conclude that in healthy adults elevated free cortisol leve ls are associated with impaired memory function.