{"id":141371,"date":"2025-02-14T16:04:16","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T20:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=141371"},"modified":"2025-02-14T16:04:18","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T20:04:18","slug":"how-does-stress-impact-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-does-stress-impact-memory\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does Stress Impact Memory? A Neuroscientist Explains"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>How does stress impact memory? Why can you remember some details of a stressful event perfectly while completely forgetting others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In her book <em>Remember<\/em>, Lisa Genova explores the fascinating relationship between stress and memory. She explains how our brain&#8217;s stress response\u2014though vital for survival\u2014can both enhance and impair different aspects of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/memory-formation-brain-on-fire\/\">memory formation<\/a> and recall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to discover how acute and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/long-term-stress\/\">chronic stress<\/a> affect your memory, attention, and cognitive functioning in surprising ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-stress-impacts-memory\">How Stress Impacts Memory<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>How does stress impact memory? According to Genova, the activation of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-response-in-the-body\/\">stress response<\/a> can affect our memory in different ways. When we\u2019re stressed, the brain releases stress hormones into our bloodstream. This acute stress response was important for our ancestors to avoid dangerous situations, and it remains necessary for our daily functioning today. Genova explains that <strong>modern psychological stress affects us similarly to the physical threats our ancestors faced<\/strong>\u2014the reaction an ancient human would have to being chased by a bear is the same reaction a modern human would have to committing a major social faux pas, for example.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Acute stress has a complex relationship with memory. It enhances the formation of memories related to the stressful situation by increasing attention and activating neurochemical processes that promote memory consolidation. <strong>However, this enhancement is selective, focusing on major details of the stressful situation while potentially impairing memory for peripheral details. <\/strong>For example, if you\u2019re hiking in the woods and you encounter a bear, you might remember a lot about the bear\u2019s appearance and behavior (as this is the major source of your stress), but little to nothing about details unrelated to the stressor such as the surrounding landscape.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, acute stress can interfere with retrieving memories, explaining why you may learn some information thoroughly while stressed but then be unable to remember it later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Acute Stress and Executive Functioning<\/strong><br><br>Memory is only one of the functions impacted by acute stress. Stress can influence multiple aspects of processing, particularly <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC5003767\/#R28\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">those related to executive function<\/a>. This includes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/improve-working-memory-moonwalking-with-einstein\/\">working memory<\/a>, inhibition (the ability to control automatic responses in favor of responses relevant to the stressor), and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-flexibility\/\">cognitive flexibility<\/a> (the ability to shift between different <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/modes-of-thinking\/\">modes of thinking<\/a>).<br><br>The theory Genova describes\u2014that stress biases us to attend mostly to information related to the stressor we\u2019re facing\u2014is the most prevalent theory on how stress impacts executive functions. Research into this theory suggests that acute stress tends to impair working memory and cognitive flexibility, but that it actually <em>improves <\/em>inhibition (which includes selective attention\u2014in this case, the ability to attend to the details related to the stressor rather than irrelevant information). Thus it may be more accurate to say that acute stress enhances <em>attention <\/em>rather than memory in general.<br><br>However, some research shows that acute stress can impair all three of these executive functions. To account for this, scientists have formulated another theory: that acute stress shifts your cognitive processing from top-down processes (and executive functions are considered top-down processes) to bottom-up processes. When using top-down processing, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.structural-learning.com\/post\/top-down-processing-and-bottom-up-processing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the brain takes its existing knowledge and uses it to interpret incoming sensory information<\/a>. In contrast, bottom-up processing focuses on the incoming <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/sensory-information-processing\/\">sensory information<\/a> first, leaving higher-level cognitive processes (such as relating it to existing knowledge) for later. This may help us focus on stressors in the moment without being distracted by preconceived biases.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Genova emphasizes that chronic stress, unlike acute stress, is uniformly detrimental to memory.<\/strong> Persistent stress continuously exposes us to stress hormones, which can desensitize our body\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/types-of-stress-response\/\">stress response system<\/a> and keep it permanently activated. This chronic activation inhibits the prefrontal cortex\u2019s thinking abilities and can actually cause hippocampal neurons to die. And, since the hippocampus is responsible for consolidation, this reduces our capacity to form new memories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Research suggests that <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC10852411\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the chronic stress associated with the Covid-19 pandemic may have impacted many people\u2019s memories<\/a>. While the viral infection itself is known to impact memory, experts note that even those who weren\u2019t infected faced chronic stressors such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/depression-and-isolation\/\">social isolation<\/a>. This stress increased people\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-and-hormones\/\">stress hormone<\/a> levels, leading to widespread memory issues for people across the world. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0166432823004898\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Studies showed a particularly severe impact on prospective and working memory<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How does stress impact memory? Why can you remember some details of a stressful event perfectly while completely forgetting others? In her book Remember, Lisa Genova explores the fascinating relationship between stress and memory. She explains how our brain&#8217;s stress response\u2014though vital for survival\u2014can both enhance and impair different aspects of memory formation and recall. Keep reading to discover how acute and chronic stress affect your memory, attention, and cognitive functioning in surprising ways.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":141376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,160],"tags":[1743],"class_list":["post-141371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-science","tag-remember","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Does Stress Impact Memory? A Neuroscientist Explains - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Your brain&#039;s stress response can both enhance and impair different aspects of memory formation and recall. Learn how stress impacts memory.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-does-stress-impact-memory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Does Stress Impact Memory? A Neuroscientist Explains\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Your brain&#039;s stress response can both enhance and impair different aspects of memory formation and recall. 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