Cited by 483Stress Responses and CortisolCognitive Abilities and TestingNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

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Psychosocial stress induces working memory impairments in an n-back paradigm.

Schoofs, Daniela, Preuß, Diana, Wolf, Oliver T.·2008·Psychoneuroendocrinology

DOI 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2008.02.004

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Abstract

In contrast to the substantial number of studies investigating the effects of stress on declarative memory, effects of stress on working memory have received less attention. We compared working memory (numerical n-back task with single digits) in 40 men exposed either to psychosocial stress (Trier Social Stress Test (TSST)) or a control condition. Task difficulty was varied using two conditions (2-back vs. 3-back). Salivary cortisol (as a marker of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity) and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA as a marker of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity) were assessed immediately before and three times after the stress or control condition. As expected stress resulted in an increase in cortisol, sAA, and negative affect. Subjects exposed to stress showed significant working memory impairments in both workload conditions. The analysis of variance indicated a main effect of stress for reaction time as well as accuracy. In addition, for reaction time a stress-block interaction occurred. Follow up tests revealed that only during the first block at each level of difficulty performance was significantly impaired by stress. Thus, the effects of stress became smaller the longer the task was performed. Results provide further evidence for impaired working memory after acute stress and illustrate the time course of this phenomenon.

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Background
Current psychosocial stress, childhood trauma and cognition in patients with schizophrenia and healthy participants
Rokita, K., Dauvermann, M. R., Mothersill, D., Holleran, L., Bhatnagar, P., McNicholas, Á., McKernan, D. P., Morris, D. W., Kelly, J. P., Hallahan, B. P., et al. (2021) · Schizophrenia Research · doi:10.1016/j.schres.2021.08.030 · Cited by 15
The Effect of Copaiba Oil Odor on Anxiety Relief in Adults under Mental Workload: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Zhang, N., Chen, J., Dong, W., & Yao, L. (2022) · Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine · doi:10.1155/2022/3874745 · Cited by 13
“N-back test is a kind of mental load task [21], in which subjects are asked to monitor a series of briefly presented stimuli and decide in each trial if the currently presented stimuli were the same as those presented one or more trials before [22].”
Background
Stress eliminates retrieval-induced forgetting—Does the oral application of cortisol?
Koessler, S., Steidle, L., Engler, H., & Kissler, J. M. (2012) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.05.004 · Cited by 14
“…of ACTH and cortisol, indicative of HPA axis activation, but also an increase in emotional arousal and state anxiety and in the release of epinephrine and norepinephrine (e.g. Federenko et al., 2004; Rohleder et al., 2004; de Kloet et al., 2005; Kudielka et al., 2007; Schoofs et al., 2008).”
The fear-factor stress test: an ethical, non-invasive laboratory method that produces consistent and sustained cortisol responding in men and women
du Plooy, C., Thomas, K. G. F., Henry, M., Human, R., & Jacobs, W. J. (2014) · Metabolic Brain Disease · doi:10.1007/s11011-014-9484-9 · Cited by 15
The social regulation of emotion and updating negative contents of working memory.
Flores, L. E., & Berenbaum, H. (2016) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/emo0000265 · Cited by 13
Working Memory Performance Under Stress
Luers, P., Schlöffel, M., & Pruessner, J. C. (2020) · Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) · doi:10.1027/1618-3169/a000484 · Cited by 18
“For instance, as reported before (Schoofs et al., 2008), we do observe negative correlations with cortisol changes and poststress reaction time in the 2-back task in men (see ESM 1, Tables E1a–c).”
Background
Central CRF and acute stress differentially modulate probabilistic reversal learning in male and female rats
Bryce, C. A., & Floresco, S. (2020) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112929 · Cited by 15
Brain fog in neuropathic postural tachycardia syndrome may be associated with autonomic hyperarousal and improves after water drinking
Rodriguez, B., Hochstrasser, A., Eugster, P. J., Grouzmann, E., Müri, R., & Z'Graggen, W. (2022) · Frontiers in Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnins.2022.968725 · Cited by 10
Self-awareness protects working memory in people under chronic stress: An ERP study
Xing, W., Zhang, S., Wang, Z., Jiang, D., Han, S., & Luo, Y. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1003719 · Cited by 12
“Researchers argue that stress results in more difficulty when inhibiting task-irrelevant internal thoughts which negatively affect attention resources, and therefore lead to impaired WM (Bishop, 2008; Schoofs et al., 2008; Liston et al., 2009; Qin et al., 2009).”
Background
Relationship between stress and resident non-technical skills during interdisciplinary trauma simulations
Anton, N. E., Collings, A. T., Athanasiadis, D. I., Giannopoulos, S., Motamedi, M. K., Ahmed, R. A., Hays, G. P., Ritter, E. M., & Stefanidis, D. (2023) · Surgery · doi:10.1016/j.surg.2023.05.024 · Cited by 12
Attachment style and attention bias to emotional information: The moderating effect of stress, stimulus characteristics, and attention stage
Peng, X. B., Gillath, O., Jiang, M., Wang, B., Zhang, J., & Wu, L. (2023) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/jopy.12891 · Cited by 12
Inducing and Assessing Acute Mental Stress in Controlled Conditions: Topical Review and Guidelines for Effective Experimental Protocols
Raggi, M., Moore, L. J., & Mesin, L. (2025) · IEEE Access · doi:10.1109/access.2025.3528518 · Cited by 14
The impact of negative affect on reality discrimination
Smailes, D., Meins, E., & Fernyhough, C. (2014) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2014.04.001 · Cited by 13
Hydrocortisone Counteracts Adverse Stress Effects on Dual-Task Performance by Improving Visual Sensory Processes
Weckesser, L. J., Alexander, N., Kirschbaum, C., Mennigen, E., & Miller, R. E. (2016) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn_a_01006 · Cited by 13
Diurnal pattern of salivary alpha-amylase and cortisol under citric acid stimulation in young adults
Xie, H., Zheng, X.-M., Huang, Y., Li, W., Wang, W., Li, Q., Hou, J., Luo, L., Kuang, X., & Lin, C.-Q. (2022) · PeerJ · doi:10.7717/peerj.13178 · Cited by 12
Test Anxiety and Children's Working Memory Task Performance: Does Trait or State Anxiety Matter More?
Ng, E. L., & Lee, K. L. (2016) · Journal of Experimental Psychopathology · doi:10.5127/jep.054115 · Cited by 12
Effects of Acute Psychosocial Stress on Facial Emotion Recognition
Barel, E., & Cohen, A. (2018) · Psychology · doi:10.4236/psych.2018.93025 · Cited by 12
Prospective memory under acute stress: The role of (output) monitoring and ongoing-task demands
Möschl, M., Walser, M., Surrey, C., & Miller, R. E. (2019) · Neurobiology of Learning and Memory · doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2019.107046 · Cited by 13
Failures of executive function when at a height: Negative height-related appraisals are associated with poor executive function during a virtual height stressor
Newman, V. E., Liddell, B. J., Beesley, T., & Most, S. B. (2019) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.102984 · Cited by 12
Sex Steroids, Learning and Memory
Nielsen, S. E., & Herrera, A. Y. (2016) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-803592-4.00014-6 · Cited by 13
Cerebral, systemic physiological and behavioral responses to colored light exposure during a cognitive task: A SPA-fNIRS study
Zohdi, H., Märki, J., Scholkmann, F., & Wolf, U. (2024) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114884 · Cited by 12
“Psychosocial stress with negative affect, including elevated salivary cortisol (as a marker of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal activity) and alpha-amylase (as a maker of sympathetic nervous system activity), as well as smoking abstinence, resulted in similar impairments in working memory [51,52].”
Background
Stressing out! Effects of acute stress on prepulse inhibition and working memory
Santos‐Carrasco, D., & la Casa, L. G. D. (2024) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.14599 · Cited by 13
High-speed train drivers’ human error under fatigue and stress: the role of situation awareness and individual differences
Dong, W., Fang, W., Qiu, H., Bao, H., & Li, Y. (2024) · Ergonomics · doi:10.1080/00140139.2024.2369207 · Cited by 11
“Under abnormal conditions, stress may reduce working memory capacity (Beilock and Decaro 2007; schoofs, Preuss, and Wolf 2008), leading to the use of inappropriate mental models by drivers, resulting in inaccurate or incomplete level 2 sa (Kecklund et al. 2001).”
Cardiovascular reactivity during sadness induction predicts inhibitory control performance
Hoffmann, A., Ellmerer, P., Maran, T. K., & Sachse, P. (2022) · Physiology & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2022.113869 · Cited by 13
“With the focus on cognitive performance, high emotional arousal leads to deficits in working memory (Schoofs et al., 2008; Luethi et al., 2009; Qin et al., 2009), cognitive flexibility (Plessow et al.”
Neurobehavioral effects of exposure to propionic acid revisited-Does psychosocial stress interfere with distractive effects in volunteers?
Pacharra, M., Schäper, M., Kleinbeck, S., Blaszkewicz, M., Golka, K., & van Thriel, C. (2016) · Neurotoxicology · doi:10.1016/j.neuro.2016.05.019 · Cited by 10
Time-Dependent Shifts in Neural Systems Supporting Decision-Making Under Stress
Hermans, E. J., Henckens, M. J. A. G., Joëls, M., & Fernández, G. (2016) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-805308-9.00030-0 · Cited by 11
Cognitive functions and human error
Kanki, B. G. (2017) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-101869-9.00002-9 · Cited by 14
Activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis in response to a verbal fluency task and associations with task performance
Becker, L., Schade, U., & Rohleder, N. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0227721 · Cited by 12
Exploring the physiological response differences of β-caryophyllene, linalool and citral inhalation and their anxiolytic potential
Pei, S., Chen, J., Lü, J., Yao, L., & Zhang, N. (2024) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e38941 · Cited by 10
“The cognitive tasks employed in this study include n-back tasks [27,28] and mental arithmetic exercises, both widely acknowledged for effectively inducing cognitive load and ensuing anxiety.”
Method
The influence of a glucose administration on stress responsivity and memory after a socially evaluated cold pressor test
Rüttgens, T., & Wolf, O. T. (2022) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105803 · Cited by 14
Self-citation
It depends: Perfectionism as a moderator of experimentally induced stress
Zureck, E., Altstötter–Gleich, C., Wolf, O. T., & Brand, M. (2014) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.038 · Cited by 10
Self-citation
Stress and information processing: acute psychosocial stress affects levels of mental abstraction
Felt, J. M., Depaoli, S. A., & Tiemensma, J. (2020) · Anxiety Stress & Coping · doi:10.1080/10615806.2020.1839646 · Cited by 11
“…stressors, despite being a normal part of daily lives, can also impact health and well-being by increasing the frequency of negative health-related cognitions and behaviors (Cloutier et al., 2019; B. Kudielka et al., 2004; Schoofs et al., 2008; Shields et al., 2016; Steptoe et al., 2007).”
Background
Noradrenergic Suppression of Persistent Firing in Hippocampal CA1 Pyramidal Cells through cAMP-PKA Pathway
Valero-Aracama, M. J., Reboreda, A., Arboit, A., Sauvage, M. M., & Yoshida, M. (2021) · eNeuro · doi:10.1523/eneuro.0440-20.2020 · Cited by 10
“High levels of NA are usually present during states of stress (Bremner et al., 1996), which are known to impair working memory (Diamond et al., 1996; Schoofs et al., 2008; Qin et al., 2009; Arnsten et al., 2012).”
Background
The Effect of Kindergarten Classroom Interaction Quality on Executive Function Development among 5- to 7-Year-Old Children
Bukhalenkova, D., Veraksa, А., & Chursina, A. (2022) · Education Sciences · doi:10.3390/educsci12050320 · Cited by 14

Authors: Schoofs, D., Preuß, D., & Wolf, O. T.
Affiliations: Ruhr University Bochum (DE)
Corresponding author: Wolf, Oliver T.
ORCID: Wolf, Oliver T.
Venue: Psychoneuroendocrinology
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Published: 2008-06
Volume: 33
Issue: 5
Pages: 643-653
ISSN: 0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2008.02.004
OpenAlex: W2106673407
Semantic Scholar: 87cef5ba5bb29154704cb81de2376ff5360b6a6f
Cited by: 483
References: 93
Citations by year: 2026: 13 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 40 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 29 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 21
FWCI: 11.00
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
www.elsevier.com/legal/tdmrep-license (tdm)
Locations: Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Universität Bielefeld
Topics: Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords: psychosocial stress, working memory, n-back task, Trier Social Stress Test, salivary cortisol, salivary amylase, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, sympathetic nervous system, negative affect, acute stress, task difficulty, reaction time, cognitive performance
MeSH terms: Adult, Affect, alpha-Amylases, Analysis of Variance, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Male, Memory, Memory Disorders, Reaction Time, Saliva, Stress, Psychological, Task Performance and Analysis, Time Factors

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Psychosocial stress induces working memory impairments in an n-back paradigm.

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