The effects of stress on working-memory-related prefrontal processing: an fNIRS study
Acute stress causes a shift from executive to automated behavior. A key executive function suffering from this shift is working memory. Working memory is mainly negatively affected in the first 10 and more than 25 minutes after acute stress. These phases coincide with increased central levels of nor...
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Stress |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10253890.2025.2472067 |
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| author | Christoph Felix Geissler Christian Frings Gregor Domes |
| author_facet | Christoph Felix Geissler Christian Frings Gregor Domes |
| author_sort | Christoph Felix Geissler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Acute stress causes a shift from executive to automated behavior. A key executive function suffering from this shift is working memory. Working memory is mainly negatively affected in the first 10 and more than 25 minutes after acute stress. These phases coincide with increased central levels of noradrenaline and cortisol. Increased levels of both hormones can cause a relative deactivation in prefrontal areas related to working memory processing. However, so far, there is little research that investigates the complete relationship between acute stress and resulting changes in stress hormones, neural activation, and working memory processing, over time. In this study, we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure prefrontal activity during an nback task in a stress (28 subjects, 7 female/21 male) and a control group (28 subjects, 10 female/18 male) once (20 minutes) before and twice (4 and 24 minutes) after a socially evaluated cold pressor test or a warm water control condition. Additionally, we regularly measured changes in salivary cortisol and α-amylase (a correlate of central noradrenaline) during the experiment. While salivary cortisol was increased starting 14 minutes after acute stress, no effect of stress on salivary α-amylase or working memory performance was found. On a neural level, we found a marginally stronger decline in 3-back-related prefrontal activity from the first to the third measurement point in the stress than in the control group. These results present tentative evidence for a negative effect of acute stress on working-memory-related prefrontal processing mediated by central cortisol levels. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5b38642296e548259edaa4cde682d7ff |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1025-3890 1607-8888 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Stress |
| spelling | doaj-art-5b38642296e548259edaa4cde682d7ff2025-08-20T03:05:27ZengTaylor & Francis GroupStress1025-38901607-88882025-12-0128110.1080/10253890.2025.2472067The effects of stress on working-memory-related prefrontal processing: an fNIRS studyChristoph Felix Geissler0Christian Frings1Gregor Domes2Institute for Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience, Trier University, Trier, GermanyInstitute for Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience, Trier University, Trier, GermanyInstitute for Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience, Trier University, Trier, GermanyAcute stress causes a shift from executive to automated behavior. A key executive function suffering from this shift is working memory. Working memory is mainly negatively affected in the first 10 and more than 25 minutes after acute stress. These phases coincide with increased central levels of noradrenaline and cortisol. Increased levels of both hormones can cause a relative deactivation in prefrontal areas related to working memory processing. However, so far, there is little research that investigates the complete relationship between acute stress and resulting changes in stress hormones, neural activation, and working memory processing, over time. In this study, we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure prefrontal activity during an nback task in a stress (28 subjects, 7 female/21 male) and a control group (28 subjects, 10 female/18 male) once (20 minutes) before and twice (4 and 24 minutes) after a socially evaluated cold pressor test or a warm water control condition. Additionally, we regularly measured changes in salivary cortisol and α-amylase (a correlate of central noradrenaline) during the experiment. While salivary cortisol was increased starting 14 minutes after acute stress, no effect of stress on salivary α-amylase or working memory performance was found. On a neural level, we found a marginally stronger decline in 3-back-related prefrontal activity from the first to the third measurement point in the stress than in the control group. These results present tentative evidence for a negative effect of acute stress on working-memory-related prefrontal processing mediated by central cortisol levels.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10253890.2025.2472067Stressworking memoryfunctional near-infrared spectroscopydorsolateral prefrontal cortexnoradrenalinecortisol |
| spellingShingle | Christoph Felix Geissler Christian Frings Gregor Domes The effects of stress on working-memory-related prefrontal processing: an fNIRS study Stress Stress working memory functional near-infrared spectroscopy dorsolateral prefrontal cortex noradrenaline cortisol |
| title | The effects of stress on working-memory-related prefrontal processing: an fNIRS study |
| title_full | The effects of stress on working-memory-related prefrontal processing: an fNIRS study |
| title_fullStr | The effects of stress on working-memory-related prefrontal processing: an fNIRS study |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effects of stress on working-memory-related prefrontal processing: an fNIRS study |
| title_short | The effects of stress on working-memory-related prefrontal processing: an fNIRS study |
| title_sort | effects of stress on working memory related prefrontal processing an fnirs study |
| topic | Stress working memory functional near-infrared spectroscopy dorsolateral prefrontal cortex noradrenaline cortisol |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10253890.2025.2472067 |
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