Wolf Oliver T
a University of Bielefeld, Department of Psychology, Postfach 10 01 31 D-33501, Bielefeld, Germany.
Expert Rev Endocrinol Metab. 2006 Sep;1(5):623-632. doi: 10.1586/17446651.1.5.623.
In response to stress, the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis is activated and glucocorticoids are secreted. These hormones exert multiple effects in the periphery as well as the brain. Acutely, they enhance memory consolidation, but at the same time the ability to retrieve previously learned information is reduced. In addition, glucocorticoids appear to interfere with working (short-term) memory. Chronically elevated glucocorticoid levels, as a result of endocrine or psychiatric disorders or as part of age-associated changes in the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal system, mostly have a negative influence on memory. In parallel, structural alterations are observed in the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. However, it seems that plasticity/reversibility is more common than previously thought. Moreover, several pharmacological interventions in animal models or small-scale human studies have revealed promising results. The advanced understanding of the CNS effects of glucocorticoids will ultimately lead to progress in the treatment of psychiatric and systemic diseases characterized by hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal hyper- or hypo-activity.
作为对压力的反应，下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴被激活，糖皮质激素被分泌。这些激素在外周以及大脑中发挥多种作用。急性应激时，它们增强记忆巩固，但同时提取先前所学信息的能力会降低。此外，糖皮质激素似乎会干扰工作（短期）记忆。由于内分泌或精神疾病，或作为下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺系统与年龄相关变化的一部分，长期升高的糖皮质激素水平大多对记忆有负面影响。与此同时，在海马体和前额叶皮质中观察到结构改变。然而，似乎可塑性/可逆性比以前认为的更为常见。此外，动物模型中的一些药理学干预或小规模人体研究已显示出有希望的结果。对糖皮质激素中枢神经系统作用的深入理解最终将推动以下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺功能亢进或减退为特征的精神疾病和全身性疾病治疗取得进展。
