Stress/memory

[Guest guest]

Stress and memory:

Stress may make it more difficult to remember facts and details already

stored in your brain, researchers say. Dominque de Quervain, M.D., of the

University of Zurich, Switzerland, and colleagues based their findings on

memory tests given to 36 healthy adults. Those tested were asked to memorize

60 nouns that were displayed on a computer screen for 4 seconds each. Later,

the participants were asked to write down as many of the words as they could

remember. In another memory test, those in the study were asked to pick out

the original words from a larger list of words. To test the effect of

stress, either cortisone tablets or a inactive pill (placebo) were given at

various times during the memory tests. Cortisone raises the level of

cortisol, a hormone produced during stressful events. An hour after taking

the cortisone tablet, participants could not remember as many words as they

could after taking the placebo, according to the study. However, despite its

effect on memory, the cortisone tablets did not appear to impair any other

mental abilities. The study, published in the April issue of Nature

Neuroscience, concludes that stress may have a detrimental effect in

situations in which memory is important (examinations, job interviews, trial

testimony). G. Kramlinger, M.D., a psychiatrist at Mayo Clinic,

Rochester, Minn., agrees. " These findings are very interesting and add to

our growing understanding of human response to stress, " says Dr. Kramlinger.

" There are occasions such as post-traumatic stress disorders when stress may

actually have a strong impact on memory, causing distress and disability for

those experiencing the disorder. " For more on stress and tips on how to deal

with it, see:

" Stress - We talk about it with a Mayo Clinic psychologist "

http://www.mayohealth.org/mayo/9707/htm/stress.htm

Since we were discussing stress not long ago I thought this was interesting.

>Becky M.