Browsing by Subject "TSST"

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    Acute pre-learning stress and declarative memory: impact of sex, cortisol response and menstrual cycle phase
    (Elsevier, 2013-04-12) Espín López, Laura; Almela, Mercedes; Hidalgo, Vanesa; Villada, Carolina; Salvador, Alicia; Gómez Amor, Jesús; Anatomía Humana y Psicobiología; Facultades de la UMU::Facultad de Psicología y Logopedia
    This study explores the influence of pre-learning stress on performance on declarative memory tasks in healthy young adults in relation to sex and menstrual cycle phase. The sample was composed of 119 students (32 men and 87 women) from 18 to 25 years of age. The women were tested in different hormonal stages (30 in follicular phase, 34 in luteal phase, and 23 using oral contraceptives). The participants were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) or a control condition. Afterwards, their memory performance was measured using a standardized memory test (Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning Test). In the control condition, all groups of women recalled more words than men, but these differences disappeared in the group exposed to TSST because men's performance on the memory test improved, but only to the level of women. In addition, our data suggest that in women the relationship between cortisol and memory can be modulated by sex hormone levels, since in luteal women a negative relationship was found between memory performance and peak cortisol level. These results confirm that sex differences need to be considered in the relationship between pre-learning stress and memory performance.
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    Enhancing effects of acute psychosocial stress on priming of non-declarative memory in healthy young adults
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2012) Espín López, Laura; Hidalgo, Vanesa; Villada, Carolina; Almela, Mercedes; Gómez Amor, Jesús; Salvador, Alicia; Anatomía Humana y Psicobiología; Facultades de la UMU::Facultad de Psicología y Logopedia
    Social stress affects cognitive processes in general, and memory performance in particular. However, the direction of these effects has not been clearly established, as it depends on several factors. Our aim was to determine the impact of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) reactivity to psychosocial stress on short-term non-declarative memory and declarative memory performance. Fifty-two young participants (18 men, 34 women) were subjected to the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST) and a control condition in a crossover design. Implicit memory was assessed by a priming test, and explicit memory was assessed by the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). The TSST provoked greater salivary cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) responses than the control task. Men had a higher cortisol response to stress than women, but no sex differences were found for sAA release. Stress was associated with an enhancement of priming but did not affect declarative memory. Additionally, the enhancement on the priming test was higher in those whose sAA levels increased more in response to stress (r48 1⁄4 0.339, p 1⁄4 0.018). Our results confirm an effect of acute stress on priming, and that this effect is related to SNS activity. In addition, they suggest a different relationship between stress biomarkers and the different memory systems.
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    No effects of psychosocial stress on memory retrieval in non-treated young students with Generalized Social Phobia
    (2016) Espín López, Laura; Marquina, Mónica; Hidalgo, Vanesa; Salvador, Alicia; Gómez Amor, Jesús; Anatomía Humana y Psicobiología
    Generalized Social Phobia (GSP) is a common anxiety disorder that produces clear social life disrup- tions. There is no consensus on the specific processes involved in its development, but the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been suggested. This study analyzed the effects of the cortisol response to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) on the memory retrieval of pictures with differ- ent emotional valences in 45 non-treated young students with GSP and 50 non-anxious (NA) subjects (mean = 19.35 years, SD = 0.18). No differences were found in the cortisol response of GSP and NA sub- jects to the TSST and control sessions. In addition, psychosocial stress impaired memory retrieval in both the GSP and NA groups, with no differences between them. Regarding the sex factor, no effects were found in the cortisol response to the TSST. However, during the encoding session, GSP men had higher cortisol levels than GSP women and NA subjects. There was also a significant interaction between sex and stress exposure on memory retrieval. Women recognized more unpleasant and neutral pictures than men; however, under stress, the women’s advantage disappeared, and the men’s performance improved. Sex also interacted with social phobia on positive mood, with GSP women exposed to the TSST showing the lowest positive mood. These results suggest that GSP subjects do not present an HPA axis sensitiza- tion to psychosocial stress, and they emphasize the importance of Sex in understanding stress effects on memory.