The "Cortisol Awakening Response": Ontogenesis and Impact of Episodic and Prospective Memory Functioning

评估皮质醇觉醒反应（CAR）作为下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴反应性的一种测量方法在心理生物学研究中得到了广泛的应用。然而，CAR的确切功能仍然难以捉摸。最近的证据表明，海马体在CAR的诱导中起着关键作用。与海马体有关自我和时空取向的记忆表征相一致，我们很容易推测情景记忆和前瞻记忆的过程可能与CAR的产生有关。我们提出了一系列的研究，在这些研究中，我们初步建立了CAR在个体发生中首次出现的时间模式。这项研究将对不同年龄组的健康儿童的CAR进行反复评估。接下来，我们将研究CAR与记忆表现（情景性、前瞻性）之间的关系。这一系列的儿童研究将是第一个研究CAR的个体发生和海马功能的心理测量的参与。最终，这些研究的结果可能会深入了解这种发生在从睡眠到清醒转变过程中的重要内分泌反应的本质，并改善临床研究中对CAR的解释。

Assessment of the cortisol awakening response (CAR) as a measure of hypothalamic-pituitary- adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity has found broad application in psychobiological research. However, the exact function of the CAR is still elusive. Recent evidence suggests a pivotal role for the hippocampus in the induction of the CAR. In concert with hippocampus-related memory representations about the self and orientation in space and time, it is tempting to speculate that processes of episodic and prospective memory may be related to the production of a CAR.We propose a series of studies in which we initially establish the time pattern of first appearance of the CAR in ontogenesis. This study will incorporate repeated assessments of the CAR in healthy children of different age groups. Next, we will study the association between the CAR and memory performance (episodic, prospective). This series of studies in children will be the first to investigate the ontogeny of the CAR and the involvement of psychological measures of hippocampal functioning. Eventually, results from these studies may provide insight into the nature of this significant endocrine response occurring at the transition from sleep to wakefulness and improve interpretations of the CAR in clinical studies.