Elevated cortisol at retrieval suppresses false memories in parallel with correct memories.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroendocrinology

Background:

• Memory retrieval is reconstructive, allowing for distortions and the creation of false memories.
• False memories often arise from extracting the gist of an event, rather than specific details.
• Cortisol, a stress hormone, is known to impair memory retrieval processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of intravenous cortisol infusion on the generation of false memories.
• To examine cortisol's impact on the recall of correct memories.
• To test gist-based theories of false memory formation.

Main Methods:

• A double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study design was employed.
• Participants studied abstract shapes derived from unpresented prototypes.
• Cortisol or placebo was administered intravenously before retrieval testing using a modified Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm.

Main Results:

• Cortisol administration significantly reduced susceptibility to false memories (recognition of prototypes).
• Cortisol also impaired the retrieval of correct memories (recognition of studied shapes).
• Response bias, confidence ratings, and remember/know/guess judgments remained unaffected.

Conclusions:

• Results support gist-based theories of false memory generation.
• Cortisol impairs memory retrieval by affecting both gist-based (false) and detail-based (correct) memory recall.
• The findings highlight cortisol's general detrimental effect on memory retrieval operations.