School of Nursing, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Geriatr Gerontol Int. 2018 Jan;18(1):169-176. doi: 10.1111/ggi.13139. Epub 2017 Aug 4.
To analyze the relationship between memory performance and the neuroendocrine and cardiovascular response to acute psychosocial stress in healthy older people, and the sex and age impact in this relationship.
We randomly selected 100 literate older adults, without cognitive or functional impairment. The neuroendocrine stress response was evaluated by measuring the concentration of salivary cortisol, whereas cardiovascular reactions were determined based on blood pressure and heart rate measures taken before, during and after participant exposure to an acute psychosocial stressor (the Trier social stress test [TSST]). Memory performance was evaluated by applying the word pairs test before and after the TSST.
A significant reduction in the word pair test scores was observed after the TSST, and a negative correlation between cortisol concentration and immediate and delayed recall of the word pair. Cortisol concentration associated with age, sex and education explained memory performance variability before and after the TSST.
The results showed that the influence of acute stress on memory performance during aging might vary according to age and sex, highlighting potential differences in the vulnerability of older individuals to the neurotoxic effects of stress exposure on memory and consequently on the development of cognitive disorders. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 169-176.
分析健康老年人的记忆表现与神经内分泌和心血管对应急性心理社会应激的关系，以及这种关系中的性别和年龄影响。
我们随机选择了 100 名有文化的老年人，他们没有认知或功能障碍。通过测量唾液皮质醇的浓度来评估神经内分泌应激反应，而心血管反应则根据参与者在经历急性心理社会应激源（特里尔社会应激测试[TSST]）前后的血压和心率测量来确定。在 TSST 前后应用单词对测试评估记忆表现。
在 TSST 后，单词对测试的分数明显下降，皮质醇浓度与单词对的即时和延迟回忆呈负相关。皮质醇浓度与年龄、性别和教育相关，可解释 TSST 前后记忆表现的可变性。
结果表明，急性应激对衰老过程中记忆表现的影响可能因年龄和性别而异，这突显了老年人对压力暴露的神经毒性作用对记忆以及认知障碍发展的易感性的潜在差异。老年医学与老年病学国际 2018；18：169-176。
