Department of Cognitive Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
Stress. 2009 Sep;12(5):379-87. doi: 10.1080/10253890802524592.
The stress hormone cortisol is known to influence memory. Elevated cortisol levels as a consequence of stress or as a consequence of cortisol administration have been repeatedly shown to enhance encoding and consolidation of (emotional) memory. Whether similar associations exist between basal cortisol levels and emotional memory remains to be established. The present study therefore evaluated if resting cortisol levels are correlated with memory for emotionally arousing and neutral pictures in a sample of young healthy females (n = 56). A second aim of the study was to explore if the relationship between basal cortisol levels and memory might be modulated by encoding instructions (intentional vs. incidental encoding). A significant positive correlation between basal salivary cortisol levels and memory for emotionally arousing pictures in a 24 h delayed free recall test was found. Further analyses revealed that this association only occurred in the group receiving intentional encoding instructions. Results indicate that basal cortisol levels, similarly to stress induced cortisol levels, are associated with emotional memory formation. Moreover this effect seems to be modulated by encoding instructions, suggesting a role of focussed attention or arousal induced by testing in this relationship.
应激激素皮质醇已知会影响记忆。应激或皮质醇给药导致的皮质醇水平升高已被反复证明可增强（情绪）记忆的编码和巩固。皮质醇基础水平与情绪记忆之间是否存在类似的关联仍有待确定。因此，本研究评估了在年轻健康女性样本中（n=56），静息皮质醇水平是否与情绪唤起和中性图片的记忆相关。该研究的第二个目的是探索基础皮质醇水平与记忆之间的关系是否可以通过编码指令（有意编码与偶然编码）来调节。在 24 小时延迟自由回忆测试中，基础唾液皮质醇水平与情绪唤起图片的记忆呈显著正相关。进一步的分析表明，这种关联仅发生在接受有意编码指令的组中。结果表明，基础皮质醇水平与应激诱导的皮质醇水平一样，与情绪记忆形成有关。此外，这种影响似乎受到编码指令的调节，这表明在这种关系中，测试引起的专注注意力或唤醒起着作用。
