{"title":"Cognitive Training Prevents Stress-Induced Working Memory Deficits.","authors":"Kaja Loock, Lars Schwabe","doi":"10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.06.006","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Working memory is a fundamental cognitive process that is critically involved in planning, comprehension, reasoning, and problem solving. Acute stress has been shown to impair working memory. This stress-induced working memory deficit has profound implications for cognitive functioning in everyday life as well as for stress-related mental disorders. Here, we tested whether a cognitive training intervention would make working memory more resistant to disruptive effects of acute stress.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In a preregistered, fully crossed between-subjects design with the factors stress (vs. control) and cognitive training (vs. sham), 123 healthy men and women (ages 18-35 years) completed a daily cognitive training program targeting working memory-related processes or a sham training over a period of 6 weeks. After this 6-week training intervention, participants underwent a standardized stress or control manipulation shortly before their working memory performance was tested.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>As expected, the exposure to acute stress led to a significant working memory impairment in the sham training group. Critically, although the subjective, autonomic, and endocrine stress responses were comparable in the 2 training groups, this stress-induced working memory impairment was abolished in the intervention training group.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These results are the first to show that a cognitive training intervention directed at prefrontal and hippocampal functioning can prevent the detrimental effects of stressful events on working memory performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":93900,"journal":{"name":"Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.06.006","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Working memory is a fundamental cognitive process that is critically involved in planning, comprehension, reasoning, and problem solving. Acute stress has been shown to impair working memory. This stress-induced working memory deficit has profound implications for cognitive functioning in everyday life as well as for stress-related mental disorders. Here, we tested whether a cognitive training intervention would make working memory more resistant to disruptive effects of acute stress.
Methods: In a preregistered, fully crossed between-subjects design with the factors stress (vs. control) and cognitive training (vs. sham), 123 healthy men and women (ages 18-35 years) completed a daily cognitive training program targeting working memory-related processes or a sham training over a period of 6 weeks. After this 6-week training intervention, participants underwent a standardized stress or control manipulation shortly before their working memory performance was tested.
Results: As expected, the exposure to acute stress led to a significant working memory impairment in the sham training group. Critically, although the subjective, autonomic, and endocrine stress responses were comparable in the 2 training groups, this stress-induced working memory impairment was abolished in the intervention training group.
Conclusions: These results are the first to show that a cognitive training intervention directed at prefrontal and hippocampal functioning can prevent the detrimental effects of stressful events on working memory performance.