Stress, Aging and Working Memory

大量的实证研究已经建立了过度压力和一些不利因素之间的联系。 健康成果。自从在大鼠海马中发现皮质类固醇受体以来， 对压力如何影响记忆以及更普遍的认知产生了相当大的兴趣。虽然大量 的研究已经研究了压力反应的生理成分与认知的关系， 令人惊讶的是，关于自然发生的压力与认知能力之间关系的研究很少。 损伤最近的一些证据表明，压力不仅会影响陈述性记忆， 工作记忆和执行功能，这些影响可能在老年人中被放大， 年轻的成年人。我们的总体目标是研究自然发生的压力，皮质醇， 和工作记忆功能的特定方面。我们提出了两项研究来实现目标。第一 这项研究是一项横断面多变量实验，重点研究压力与人与人之间的关系。 第二个是纵向测量突发设计，将检查时间 在很长一段时间内，压力和认知之间的人际关系动态 间隔（天至月）。本研究有以下具体目的：（1）：探讨压力是否 通过消耗注意力资源影响认知;（2）：检查压力反应的哪个方面 通过使用多种测量压力的方法来预测认知表现（即，生活事件，每日 压力，主观严重程度）及其心理和生理效应;（3）：检验假设 衰老放大了压力对认知的影响;（4）研究压力和认知是否 在个体内部结合。这将涉及测试假设，即上述两个目标之间- 人的水平和人内水平的分析，通过检查人内耦合的压力和 在广泛的时间间隔采样，从几天到几个月到几年的认知。

A large body of empirical research has established a link between excessive stress and a number of adverse health outcomes. Since the discovery of corticosteroid receptors in the rat hippocampus there has also been considerable interest in how stress affects memory, and more generally, cognition. Although a large number of studies have examined how physiological components of the stress response relate to cognition, there is surprisingly little research on how the experience of naturally occurring stress relates to cognitive impairment. Some recent evidence suggests that stress could impact not only declarative memory, but also working memory and executive function, and that these effects may be amplified in older compared to younger adults. Our overall goal is to examine the relationship between naturally occurring stress, cortisol, and specific aspects of working memory function. We propose two studies to accomplish goal. The first study is a cross-sectional multivariate experiment focused on between-person relationships between stress and cognition and the second is longitudinal measurement-burst design that will examine the temporal dynamics of the within-person relationship between stress and cognition across a wide range of time intervals (days to months). Our research has the following Specific Aims: (1):To examine whether that stress affects cognition by depleting attentional resources; (2): To examine which aspect of the stress response predicts cognitive performance by using multiple approaches to measuring stress (i.e., life events, daily stress, subjective severity) and its psychological and physiological effects; (3): To examine the hypothesis that aging amplifies the effect of stress on cognition; and (4) To examine whether stress and cognition are coupled within individuals. This will involve testing hypotheses that the above aim at both the between- person level and the within-person level of analysis, by examining the within-person coupling of stress and cognition over a broad sampling of time intervals, ranging from days to months to years.