title: The context counts: congruent learning and testing environments prevent memory retrieval impairment following stress.
abstract: Stress before retention testing impairs memory, whereas memory performance is enhanced when the learning context is reinstated at retrieval. In the present study, we examined whether the negative impact of stress before memory retrieval can be attenuated when memory is tested in the same environmental context as that in which learning took place. Subjects learned a 2-D object location task in a room scented with vanilla. Twenty-four hours later, they were exposed to stress or a control condition before memory for the object location task was assessed in a cued-recall test, either in the learning context or in a different context (unfamiliar room without the odor). Stress impaired memory when assessed in the unfamiliar context, but not when assessed in the learning context. These results suggest that the detrimental effects of stress on memory retrieval can be abolished when a distinct learning context is reinstated at test.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. lars.schwabe@rub.de
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schwabe
authors.forename: Oliver T
authors.initials: OT
authors.lastname: Wolf
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001794:Blood Pressure; D003463:Cues; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009812:Odorants; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D031669:Vanilla
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
references.citation: Endocr Rev. 1998 Jun;19(3):269-301
references.pmid: 9626555
references.citation: Acta Psychol (Amst). 2008 Mar;127(3):513-31
references.pmid: 17900515
references.citation: Learn Mem. 2003 Jul-Aug;10(4):270-4
references.pmid: 12888545
references.citation: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1998 Nov 30;855:670-4
references.pmid: 9929669
references.citation: Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2009 Apr;34(3):446-54
references.pmid: 19028019
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2003 Mar;29(2):224-34
references.pmid: 12696811
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Apr 25;103(17):6741-6
references.pmid: 16611726
references.citation: Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2002 Apr;27(3):401-16
references.pmid: 11818174
references.citation: Memory. 2006 Jan;14(1):1-16
references.pmid: 16423737
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 2004 May;130(3):355-91
references.pmid: 15122924
references.citation: Neural Plast. 2007;2007:60803
references.pmid: 17641736
references.citation: Am J Psychiatry. 2007 Jun;164(6):967-9
references.pmid: 17541058
references.citation: J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1997 Jul;82(7):2070-5
references.pmid: 9215274
references.citation: Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2002 Nov;78(3):578-95
references.pmid: 12559837
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2003 Oct;7(10):431-3
references.pmid: 14550485
references.citation: Learn Mem. 2009 Jan 29;16(2):110-3
references.pmid: 19181616
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Gen. 1994 Jun;123(2):201-15
references.pmid: 8014613
references.citation: Psychosom Med. 1999 Mar-Apr;61(2):154-62
references.pmid: 10204967
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2006 Apr;10(4):152-8
references.pmid: 16513410
references.citation: J Neurosci Methods. 2008 Oct 30;175(1):104-7
references.pmid: 18765252
references.citation: Mem Cognit. 1982 Sep;10(5):405-12
references.pmid: 7176900
references.citation: Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1994;19(4):313-33
references.pmid: 8047637
references.citation: J Exp Psychol. 1968 Aug;77(4):593-601
references.pmid: 5672271
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2005 Mar 16;25(11):2977-82
references.pmid: 15772357
references.citation: Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2008 Jul;90(1):44-53
references.pmid: 18334304
references.citation: Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2008 Jul;33(6):890-5
references.pmid: 18403130
references.citation: Life Sci. 1996;58(17):1475-83
references.pmid: 8622574
references.citation: Brain Imaging Behav. 2007 Jun;1(1-2):31-41
references.pmid: 19946603
references.citation: Brain. 1998 Oct;121 ( Pt 10):1985-2002
references.pmid: 9798751
references.citation: Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2002 Apr;12(2):205-10
references.pmid: 12015238
references.citation: Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2004 Mar;81(2):150-4
references.pmid: 14990235
references.citation: Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2008 Nov;33(10):1378-86
references.pmid: 18790572
references.citation: Mem Cognit. 1985 Jul;13(4):333-45
references.pmid: 4079749
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2000 Apr;3(4):313-4
references.pmid: 10725918
references.citation: Stress. 2002 Feb;5(1):59-64
references.pmid: 12171768
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2006 Apr;18(4):614-25
references.pmid: 16768364
references.citation: Eur J Neurosci. 2003 Mar;17(6):1296-302
references.pmid: 12670318
references.citation: Psychon Bull Rev. 2001 Jun;8(2):203-20
references.pmid: 11495110
references.citation: Science. 2007 Mar 9;315(5817):1426-9
references.pmid: 17347444
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 1983 Jan;9(1):21-38
references.pmid: 6220114
references.citation: Mem Cognit. 2002 Jun;30(4):511-8
references.pmid: 12184552
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 1999 Sep;2(9):844-7
references.pmid: 10461225
references.citation: Stress. 2004 Sep;7(3):173-81
references.pmid: 15764014
references.citation: Learn Mem. 2006 May-Jun;13(3):382-7
references.pmid: 16741288
references.citation: Behav Brain Sci. 1997 Mar;20(1):1-19; discussion 19-55
references.pmid: 10096994
references.citation: Front Behav Neurosci. 2009 Jan 15;2:5
references.pmid: 19169362
references.citation: Behav Brain Res. 2001 Dec 14;127(1-2):137-58
references.pmid: 11718889