Stress Response

Stress response has often focused on group differences (e.g.
, stress group versus no-stress group)

without examining individual differences in response to those stressors (either subjective stress
response or physiological reactivity). When studies have monitored physiological reactivity to
stress, several studies have found that cortical and performance on working memory tasks are
negatively correlated (Qin et al., 2009; Schoofs et al., 2009) especially when adrenergic activity
is also high (Elzinga and Roelofs, 2005). Human research has demonstrated that the effects of
stress intensity on behavior are characterized by an inverted-U-shaped function: while low or
high levels of stress lead to performance impairment on tests of vigilance and working memory,
a moderate level of stress leads to performance improvement (Lupien et al., 2007;
Arnsten, 2009). Neurobiological studies suggest that these quadratic effects are related to levels
of stress hormones (e.g., glucocorticoids) and adrenergic activity (e.g., catecholamines) in the
brain, especially in prefrontal cortex (PFC) regions (Arnsten and Goldman-Rakic, 1998;
Mizoguchi et al., 2004; Lupien et al., 2007; Hains and Arnsten, 2008; Arnsten, 2009), which are
critically involved in working memory and EF processes. Examining individual responses to
stress, and how these responses relate to subsequent cognitive functioning (in either linear or
quadratic relationships), is thus critical for clarifying the question of when stress may help or
harm behavioral performance.
Thus, controllability of, and individual responses to, stressors influence the effects of stress
exposure on cognitive and behavioral functioning. However, several intriguing questions about
the nature of these effects remain unexplored. First, the question of what types of stress exposure
can enhance cognitive functioning remains only partially resolved. While some promising
evidence suggests that exposure to moderately intense stress predicts improved working memory
performance, the dearth of research on individual differences, and inconsistencies in group-level
effects, make this association far from conclusive. Furthermore, the question remains open
whether exposure to controllable stress can enhance behavioral functioning. A number of studies
documented the impairing effects of uncontrollable stress, but failed to find any benefit of
exposure to controllable stress (Hiroto, 1974; Hiroto and Seligman, 1975).However, several
other studies demonstrated that people exposed to controllable stress show improved learning
and cognitive ability in comparison to people exposed to either uncontrollable stress or no-stress
(Thornton and Jacobs, 1971; Thornton and Powell, 1974)We have yet to determine whether, and
how, controllable stress exposure may enhance cognitive and behavioral functioning.
Although controllability of stress and individual differences in stress response have been
investigated separately, studies has examined the interaction of these factors. One research study
showed that participants who appraised stressors as challenging performed better on an active
coping task than participants who appraised the same stressors as threatening (Tomaka et
al., 1993), suggesting that subjective reactions predict performance differences in a context of
controllable stress. However, because the passive coping task used in this study for comparison
had no measure of performance, it is not possible to determine whether subjective reaction would
predict a different pattern in the context of uncontrollable stress. Another study identified an
interaction between dosage of stress and individual differences in locus of control in predicting
performance on an anagram task (Pittman and Pittman, 1979), although individual responses to
stressors were not assessed. In sum, existing research supports the robust influences of
controllability and stress reactivity in moderating the effect of stress on cognitively demanding
tasks, but investigation of interactions between these factors remains sparse
Reference of response
Hains A. B., Arnsten A. F. T. (2008). Molecular mechanisms of stress-induced prefrontal cortical

impairment: implications for mental illness. Learn. Mem. 15, 551–56410.1101/lm.921708
Qin S., Hermans E. J., van Marle H. J. F., Luo J., Fernandez G. (2009). Acute psychological
stress reduces working memory-related activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Biol.
Psychiatry 66,
Schoofs D., Wolf O. T., Smeets T. (2009). Cold pressor stress impairs performance on working
memory tasks requiring executive functions in healthy young men. Behav. Neurosci. 123, 1066
Elzinga B. M., Roelofs K. (2005). Cortisol-induced impairments of working memory require

acute sympathetic activation.
Behav. Neurosci. 119, 98–10310.1037/0735-7044.119.1.98 Behav. Neurosci. 119, 98–

10310.1037/0735-7044.119.1.98 Lupien S. J., Maheu F., Tu M., Fiocco A., Schramek T. E.
(2007). The effects of stress and stress hormones on human cognition: implications for the field
of brain and cognition. Brain Cogn. 65 37.
Arnsten A. F. T. (2009). Stress signaling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and
function. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 10, 410–42210.1038/nrn2648
Lupien S. J., Maheu F., Tu M., Fiocco A., Schramek T. E. (2007). The effects of stress and stress
hormones on human cognition: implications for the field of brain and cognition. Brain Cogn. 65,
209–3710.1016/j.bandc.2007.02.007
Arnsten A. F. T., Goldman-Rakic P. S. (1998). Noise stress impairs prefrontal cortical cognitive

function in monkeys. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 55, 362–36810.1001/archpsyc.55.4.362
Mizoguchi K., Ishige A., Takeda S., Aburada M., Tabira T. (2004). Endogenous glucocorticoids
are essential for maintaining prefrontal cortical cognitive function. J. Neurosci. 24, 5492–
549910.1523/JNEUROSCI.0086-04.2004
Dickerson S. S., Kemeny M. E. (2004). Acute stressors and cortisol responses: a theoretical

integration and synthesis of laboratory research. Psychol. Bull. 130, 355–39110.1037/0033-
2909.130.3.355
Hiroto D. S. (1974). Locus of control and learned helplessness. J. Exp. Psychol. 102, 187–
19310.1037/h0035910
Hiroto D. S., Seligman M. E. P. (1975). Generality of learned helplessness in man. J. Pers. Soc.

Psychol. 31, 311–32710.1037/h0076270
Tomaka J., Blascovich J., Kelsey R. M., Leitten S. L. (1993). Subjective, physiological, and
behavioral effects of threat and challenge appraisal. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 65, 248–
26010.1037/0022-3514.65.2.248
Jones S. L., Nation J. R., Massad P. (1977). Immunization against learned helplessness in

man. J. Abnorm. Psychol. 86, 75–8310.1037/0021-843X.86.1.75
Thornton J. W., Jacobs P. D. (1971). Learned helplessness in human subjects. J. Exp.

Psychol. 87, 367–37210.1037/h0030529
Thornton J. W., Powell G. D. (1974). Immunization to and alleviation of learned helplessness in

man. Am. J. Psychol. 87, 351–36710.2307/1421378
Pittman N. L., Pittman T. S. (1979). Effects of amount of helplessness training and internal–

external locus of control on mood and performance. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 37, 39–
4710.1037/0022-3514.37.1.39

Stress Response

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Stress Response

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Stress Response

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Stress response has often focused on group differences (e.g.

, stress group versus no-stress group)

Hains A. B., Arnsten A. F. T. (2008). Molecular mechanisms of stress-induced prefrontal cortical

Elzinga B. M., Roelofs K. (2005). Cortisol-induced impairments of working memory require

Behav. Neurosci. 119, 98–10310.1037/0735-7044.119.1.98 Behav. Neurosci. 119, 98–

Arnsten A. F. T., Goldman-Rakic P. S. (1998). Noise stress impairs prefrontal cortical cognitive

Dickerson S. S., Kemeny M. E. (2004). Acute stressors and cortisol responses: a theoretical

Hiroto D. S., Seligman M. E. P. (1975). Generality of learned helplessness in man. J. Pers. Soc.

Jones S. L., Nation J. R., Massad P. (1977). Immunization against learned helplessness in

Thornton J. W., Jacobs P. D. (1971). Learned helplessness in human subjects. J. Exp.

Thornton J. W., Powell G. D. (1974). Immunization to and alleviation of learned helplessness in

Pittman N. L., Pittman T. S. (1979). Effects of amount of helplessness training and internal–

You might also like