Low lifetime stress exposure is associated with reduced stimulus-response memory
Open accessAbstract
Exposure to stress throughout life can cumulatively influence later health, even among young adults. The negative effects of high cumulative stress exposure are well-known, and a shift from episodic to stimulus-response memory has been proposed to underlie forms of psychopathology that are related to high lifetime stress. At the other extreme, effects of very low stress exposure are mixed, with some studies reporting that low stress leads to better outcomes, while others demonstrate that low stress is associated with diminished resilience and negative outcomes. However, the influence of very low lifetime stress exposure on episodic and stimulus-response memory is unknown. Here we use a lifetime stress assessment system (STRAIN) to assess cumulative lifetime stress exposure and measure memory performance in young adults reporting very low and moderate levels of lifetime stress exposure. Relative to moderate levels of stress, very low levels of lifetime stress were associated with reduced use and retention (24 h later) of stimulus-response (SR) associations, and a higher likelihood of using context memory. Further, computational modeling revealed that participants with low levels of stress exhibited worse expression of memory for SR associations than those with moderate stress. These results demonstrate that very low levels of stress exposure can have negative effects on cognition.
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Cumulative life stress measured with the STRAIN has been associated with worse health, including poor self-reported physical health, impaired cognitive functioning, and greater cancer-related depression and fatigue.
“Cumulative life stress measured with the STRAIN has so far been associated with worse health, including poor self-reported physical health (Toussaint et al., 2016), impaired cognitive functioning (Goldfarb et al., 2017; Shields et al., 2017), and greater cancer-related depression and fatigue (Bower et al., 2014; Dooley et al., 2017).”
From More than a feeling: A unified view of stress measurement for population science (2018) · cites this paper as Goldfarb et al., 2017
The STRAIN predicts biological reactivity to acute stress, metabolic function, memory, diurnal cortisol levels in women diagnosed with ovarian cancer, depression and fatigue in women diagnosed with breast cancer, and self-reported mental and physical health in the general population.
“This approach yielded eight preliminary studies, showing that the STRAIN predicts biological reactivity to acute stress (27), metabolic function (28), memory (29), diurnal cortisol levels in women diagnosed with ovarian cancer (30), depression and fatigue in women diagnosed with breast cancer (31,32), and self-reported mental and physical health in the general population (33,34).”
From Assessing Lifetime Stress Exposure Using the Stress and Adversity Inventory for Adults (Adult STRAIN): An Overview and Initial Validation (2018) · cites this paper as [29]
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More than a feeling: A unified view of stress measurement for population science
Epel, E. S., Crosswell, A. D., Mayer, S. E., Prather, A. A., Slavich, G. M., Puterman, E., & Mendes, W. B. (2018) · Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2018.03.001 · Cited by 1,077 · see citing works
“, 2016), impaired cognitive functioning (Goldfarb et al., 2017; Shields et al., 2017), and greater cancer-related depression and fatigue (Bower et al.”
BackgroundSelf-citationSlavich, G. M., & Shields, G. S. (2018) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/psy.0000000000000534 · Cited by 268 · see citing works
“This approach yielded eight preliminary studies, showing that the STRAIN predicts biological reactivity to acute stress (27), metabolic function (28), memory (29), diurnal cortisol levels in women diagnosed with ovarian cancer (30), depression and fatigue in women diagnosed with breast cancer (31,32), and self-reporte…”
ResultSelf-citationLife stress and suicide in adolescents
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Shields, G. S., Doty, D., Shields, R. H., Gower, G., Slavich, G. M., & Yonelinas, A. P. (2017) · Stress · doi:10.1080/10253890.2017.1380620 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
- Authors
- Goldfarb, E. V., Shields, G. S., Daw, N. D., Slavich, G. M., & Phelps, E. A.
- Affiliations
- New York University (US)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Princeton University (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research (US)
- Venue
- Learning & Memory
- Publisher
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
- Published
- 2017-03-15
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 162-168
- ISSN
- 1072-0502 (ISSN-L)
- 1549-5485
- PMC
- PMC5362698
- OpenAlex
- W2597979263
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4
- Type
- posted content
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- Learning & Memory (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH097085, K08MH103443)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Keywords
- low stress, episodic memory, contextual memory, memory retention, memory expression, computational model of memory, young adults
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Association Learning, Attention, Cognition, Computer Simulation, Cues, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Male, Memory, Models, Psychological, Photic Stimulation, Stress, Psychological, Young Adult
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