Cortisol suppression impairs retrieval of emotional memory and changes its neural correlates immediately and four days post-treatment.

In 30 seconds

This randomized controlled trial examined the effects of cortisol suppression on emotional memory retrieval in humans using fMRI. The study found that pharmacological suppression of cortisol impaired immediate memory retrieval and altered neural representations of emotional memories, both immediately and four days post-treatment, indicating lasting changes in the emotional memory network.

Key findings

• Cortisol suppression impaired immediate retrieval of emotional memories.
• Key brain regions involved in emotional memory were disrupted by cortisol suppression.
• Neural memory representations for emotional events were altered four days post-treatment.

Why it matters

Understanding the impact of cortisol on emotional memory retrieval can inform clinical strategies for managing distressing memories, potentially improving therapeutic approaches in psychiatry.