The Prioritization of Stressful Episodes in Working Memory

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroendocrinology
• Memory Research

Background:

• Acute stress enhances long-term memory for central details of stressful events.
• Prioritization of stressful episodes within working memory (WM) has not been previously investigated.
• The study examines stress prioritization in WM across different neuroendocrine phases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prioritization of stressful episodes in working memory (WM).
• To determine if this prioritization differs across the non-genomic and genomic phases of the stress response.
• To assess the persistence of this prioritization under conditions minimizing encoding competition.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments utilized a modified Maastricht Acute Stress Test (MAST) to induce stress and identify central (COs) and peripheral (POs) objects.
• Working memory was assessed immediately (non-genomic phase) and one hour (genomic phase) post-stress.
• A sequential presentation design was employed in the second experiment to reduce encoding competition, with non-stressful control groups included.

Main Results:

• Participants in the MAST group responded faster to COs than POs and neutral objects in the WM task.
• This prioritization of central objects was observed in both immediate (non-genomic) and delayed (genomic) phases.
• The effect persisted even with sequential object presentation, indicating robustness.

Conclusions:

• Stressful episodes are robustly prioritized in working memory.
• This prioritization is stable across immediate and delayed cortisol phases.
• Findings suggest a durable cognitive bias in WM established during acute stress, involving attentional capture and biased maintenance.