Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute for Psychology, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Eur J Neurosci. 2022 May;55(9-10):2699-2713. doi: 10.1111/ejn.14942. Epub 2020 Sep 1.
Stress can modulate the recruitment of multiple memory systems during learning, favouring dorsal striatal "habit" learning over hippocampal "cognitive" learning. Here, we tested whether stress may also bias the engagement of "cognitive" and "habit" systems during retrieval and thereby affect the nature of remembering. To this end, participants first performed a probabilistic classification learning task that can be solved by both the "cognitive" and the "habit" system. Twenty-four hours later, participants underwent either a stress manipulation or a non-stressful control procedure before they completed a retention test for the previously learned task in the MRI scanner. During this retention test, stress-induced cortisol levels were linked to a relative bias towards behavioural strategies indicative for the "habit" system. At the neural level, stress led to increased dorsal striatal activity during retrieval. Elevated cortisol levels were directly correlated with increased activity in the dorsal striatum and further linked to reduced functional connectivity between the hippocampus and the amygdala, which is assumed to orchestrate the stress-related shift from "cognitive" to "habitual" control. Together, our data suggest that stress may bias the contributions of multiple memory systems also at retrieval, in a manner that promotes dorsal striatal "habit" processes and most likely driven by cortisol.
压力可以调节学习过程中多个记忆系统的募集，有利于背侧纹状体的“习惯”学习，而不利于海马体的“认知”学习。在这里，我们测试了压力是否也会在检索过程中偏向“认知”和“习惯”系统的参与，从而影响记忆的性质。为此，参与者首先进行了一项概率分类学习任务，该任务可以通过“认知”和“习惯”系统来解决。24 小时后，参与者接受了压力处理或非压力控制程序，然后在 MRI 扫描仪中完成了之前学习任务的保留测试。在保留测试中，应激诱导的皮质醇水平与偏向行为策略的相对偏差有关，这表明偏向“习惯”系统。在神经水平上，检索过程中压力导致背侧纹状体活动增加。皮质醇水平升高与背侧纹状体活动增加直接相关，并与海马体和杏仁核之间的功能连接减少有关，这被认为是协调与压力相关的从“认知”到“习惯”控制的转变。总之，我们的数据表明，压力可能会在检索过程中偏向于多个记忆系统的贡献，从而促进背侧纹状体的“习惯”过程，这很可能是由皮质醇驱动的。
