Department of Psychology, General and Experimental Psychology unit, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany.
Centre for Brain Science, University of Essex, Colchester, UK.
Neurobiol Aging. 2018 Sep;69:239-248. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2018.05.025. Epub 2018 May 29.
Studies highlight cumulative life stress as a significant predictor of accelerated cognitive aging. This study paired electrophysiological with behavioral measures to explore how cumulative stress affects attentional and maintenance processes underpinning working memory retention. We collected electroencephalographic recordings from 60 individuals (30 older, 30 younger) reporting high or low levels of cumulative stress during the performance of a spatial Sternberg task. We measured mid-occipital alpha (8-12 Hz) and frontal-midline theta (4-6 Hz) as indicators of attentional and maintenance processes. Older, high-stress participants' behavioral performance lay significantly below than that of younger adults and low-stress older individuals. Impaired task performance coincided with reduced event-related synchronization in alpha and theta frequency ranges during memory maintenance. Electrophysiological findings suggest that older adults' reduced performance results from a stress-related impact on their ability to retain a stimulus in working memory and inhibit extraneous information from interfering with maintenance. Our results demonstrate the wide-ranging impact of cumulative stress on cognitive health and provide insight into the functional mechanisms disrupted by its influence.
研究强调，累积生活压力是加速认知老化的重要预测因素。本研究将电生理与行为测量相结合，探讨累积压力如何影响工作记忆保留的注意力和维持过程。我们从 60 名个体（30 名老年人，30 名年轻人）中收集了脑电图记录，这些个体在执行空间 Sternberg 任务时报告了高水平或低水平的累积压力。我们测量了中枕部阿尔法（8-12 Hz）和额中线 theta（4-6 Hz）作为注意力和维持过程的指标。高压力的老年参与者的行为表现明显低于年轻成年人和低压力的老年个体。在记忆维持期间，与任务相关的同步性减少，表明任务表现受损。电生理发现表明，老年人表现下降是由于压力对他们在工作记忆中保留刺激的能力以及抑制无关信息干扰维持的能力产生了影响。我们的研究结果表明，累积压力对认知健康有广泛影响，并深入了解了其影响下功能机制受到的破坏。
