title: Stress and Memory: A Selective Review on Recent Developments in the Understanding of Stress Hormone Effects on Memory and Their Clinical Relevance.
abstract: Stress causes a neuroendocrine response cascade, leading to the release of catecholamines and glucocorticoids (GCs). GCs influence learning and memory by acting on mineralocorticoid (MR) and glucocorticoid (GR) receptors. Typically, GCs enhance the consolidation of memory processing at the same time as impairing the retrieval of memory of emotionally arousing experiences. The present selective review addresses four recent developments in this area. First, the role of the endocannabinoid system in mediating the rapid, nongenomic effects of GCs on memory is illustrated in rodents. Subsequently, studies on the impact of the selective stimulation of MRs on different memory processes in humans are summarised. Next, a series of human experiments on the impact of stress or GC treatment on fear extinction and fear reconsolidation is presented. Finally, the clinical relevance of the effects of exogenous GC administration is highlighted by the description of patients with anxiety disorders who demonstrate an enhancement of extinction-based therapies by GC treatment. The review highlights the substantial progress made in our mechanistic understanding of the memory-modulating properties of GCs, as well as their clinical potential.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: O T
authors.initials: OT
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Atsak
authors.affiliation: Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychology, University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: de Quervain
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roozendaal
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wingenfeld
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D063388:Endocannabinoids / Q000502:physiology; D005108:Extinction, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D000069077:Memory Consolidation / Q000502:physiology; D008901:Mineralocorticoids / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D063388:Endocannabinoids; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D008901:Mineralocorticoids
keywords: aldosterone; cortisol/corticosterone; glucocorticoids; membrane/nuclear; mineralocorticoids; norepinephrine; receptors