title: Mineralocorticoid receptor stimulation effects on spatial memory in healthy young adults: A study using the virtual Morris Water Maze task.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Stress hormones such as cortisol are known to influence a wide range of cognitive functions, including hippocampal based spatial memory. In the brain, cortisol acts via two different receptors: the glucocorticoid (GR) and the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR). As the MR has a high density in the hippocampus, we examined the effects of pharmacological MR stimulation on spatial memory.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty healthy participants (40 women, 40 men, mean age=23.9years±SD=3.3) completed the virtual Morris Water Maze (vMWM) task to test spatial encoding and spatial memory retrieval after receiving 0.4mg fludrocortisone, a MR agonist, or placebo.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no effect of MR stimulation on spatial encoding during the vMWM task. However, participants who received fludrocortisone exhibited improved spatial memory retrieval performance. There was neither a main effect of sex nor a sex-by-treatment interaction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In young healthy participants, MR stimulation improved hippocampal based spatial memory retrieval in a virtual Morris Water Maze task. Our study not only confirms the importance of MR function in spatial memory, but suggests beneficial effects of acute MR stimulation on spatial memory retrieval in humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité University Hospital Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: dominique.piber@charite.de.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Piber
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité University Hospital Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schultebraucks
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sven C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité University Hospital Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian Eric
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Deuter
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité University Hospital Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wingenfeld
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité University Hospital Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Otte
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005438:Fludrocortisone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008901:Mineralocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018161:Receptors, Mineralocorticoid / Q000819:agonists*; D065852:Spatial Memory / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D008901:Mineralocorticoids; D018161:Receptors, Mineralocorticoid; D005438:Fludrocortisone
keywords: Mineralocorticoid receptor; Spatial memory; Stress; Virtual Morris Water Maze