Cortisol differentially affects memory in young and elderly men

Nine young and 11 elderly men participated in this placebo-controlled, doub le-blind, crossover study (0.5 mg/kg cortisol or intravenous placebo). Part icipants learned a word list before cortisol administration, and delayed re call was then tested. A 2nd word list was learned and recalled after drug a dministration. In addition, the Paragraph Recall Test and tests measuring w orking memory (Digit Span), attention (timed cancellation), and response in hibition (Stroop Color and Word Test) were administered at 2 time points af ter drug administration. Cortisol reduced recall from the word list learned before treatment in both groups but did not influence recall of the list l earned after treatment. In contrast, Digit Span performance was decreased b y cortisol in young but not elderly participants. The possibility that diff erential age-associated brain changes might underlie the present results is discussed.