The good and the bad of stress. Implications for memory and adaptive processes

PhD ceremony: Ms. R. Wichmann, 12.45 uur, Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

Dissertation: The good and the bad of stress. Implications for memory and adaptive processes

Promotor(s): prof. B. Roozendaal, prof. G.J. ter Horst

Faculty: Medical Sciences

Stress, a common phenomenon in today’s society, often carries a negative connotation. People automatically associate the word ‘stress’ with bad feelings and a multitude of other physical, emotional and mental discomforts. However, stress does not necessarily have to be a bad thing. In the short run stress, or the physiological response to stress, can help us to perform better in times of pressure and increases our cognitive abilities. The influence of the hormones (glucocorticoids and adrenaline) that are released during stressful episodes, promotes the remembrance of events that are significant for the survival of an organism. The vast majority of studies investigating the underlying mechanisms of stress hormone-induced facilitation of emotional memory consolidation concentrated on aversive or fear-motivated stimuli. The findings of this thesis indicate that stress hormones are also crucially involved in facilitating the memory consolidation of appetitive and rewarding experiences. This indicates that the mere presence of a neuroendocrine response is not sufficient to label a stimulus as stressful; it is a matter of timing and dose. Under circumstances of prolonged or severe stress we can suffer negative consequences and develop deleterious disorders and pathologies. This is investigated within the second part of this thesis with a special emphasis on sex differences in the response to chronic stress.