Chronic Stress Can Affect Memory

Individuals subjected to chronic stress due to bullying or a tough job may experience problems with their memory. Researchers found that mice who were repeatedly stressed by larger, more aggressive mice when they tried to find an escape hole in a maze became more forgetful than mice not exposed to the aggressive mice. The researchers say that the mice’s inability to remember coincided with stress-induced inflammation in the brain. They hope that a better understanding of stress, cognition, and mood problems may help create strategies for those suffering from anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Journal of Neuroscience, March 2016