Inverted-U function between salivary cortisol and retrieval of verbal memory after hydrocortisone treatment.

Author(s): Domes G, Rothfischer J, Reichwald U, Hautzinger M

Affiliation(s): Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Rostock University, Rostock, Germany. gregor.domes@med.uni-rostock.de

Publication date & source: 2005-04, Behav Neurosci., 119(2):512-7.

Publication type: Clinical Trial; Randomized Controlled Trial

The present study investigated the effect of a single oral dose of hydrocortisone (cortisol) on retrieval of verbal and nonverbal declarative memory. Fifty-nine healthy participants were randomly assigned to either receive 25 mg cortisol or a placebo 45 min before retrieval in a standardized memory test procedure. There was no global effect of cortisol on either verbal or nonverbal memory. However, a specific negative effect on free recall of associative verbal material appeared. In addition, high responders (salivary cortisol concentration>68.25 nmol/L) exhibited impaired verbal memory compared with low responders (<68.25 nmol/L). The results suggest specific nonlinear effects of cortisol on declarative memory retrieval, which appear to be more pronounced for verbal material. Copyright (c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved.