Over 2000 Posts Kristy Posted January 14, 2002 Over 2000 Posts Report Share Posted January 14, 2002 I will post summaries to studies that directly address the effects of cortisol on the brain. I have direct access to the full report(s). I can get them to you for your own personal use depending on the terms of the copywright. Please let me know if you want a copy by messenger, e-mail, or post if you want a full copy of the report. I will be adding more studies. The first study is The effects of chronic administration of hydrocortisone on cognitive function in normal male volunteers. Young AH, Sahakian BJ, Robbins TW, Cowen PJ. Department of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, Royal Victoria Informary, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. A.H.Young@ncl.ac.uk RATIONALE: Corticosteroids are elevated in certain neuropsychiatric disorders and this may contribute to the neuropsychological impairments reported in these disorders. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of hydrocortisone on learning, memory and executive function. METHODS: Hydrocortisone 20 mg was administered twice daily for 10 days to normal male volunteers in a randomized, placebo control, crossover, within-subject design. Learning, memory and executive function were measured using selected subtests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. RESULTS: Hydrocortisone caused impairments of visuo-spatial memory. These included increased within search errors and impaired use of strategies on the spatial working memory subtest. In addition, administration of hydrocortisone was associated with more errors in the paired associate learning subtest, although no effect was found on the Tower of London. Hydrocortisone speeded response latencies in certain tests (pattern and spatial recognition memory). CONCLUSION: These results indicate that chronic administration of hydrocortisone leads to deficits in certain tests of cognitive function sensitive to frontal lobe dysfunction and may contribute to the cognitive impairment reported in certain neuropsychiatric disorders. Publication Types: Clinical Trial Randomized Controlled Trial PMID: 10494574 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 2000 Posts MaryOld Posted January 14, 2002 Author Over 2000 Posts Report Share Posted January 14, 2002 Thanks, Kristy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 2000 Posts Kristy Posted January 14, 2002 Over 2000 Posts Report Share Posted January 14, 2002 The second study is: STRESS AND HIPPOCAMPAL PLASTICITY Bruce S. McEwen Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021; e-mail: mcewen@rockvax.rockefeller.edu KEY WORDS: glucocorticoids, NMDA receptors, dendrites, neurogenesis, memory, aging The hippocampus is a target of stress hormones, and it is an especially plastic and vulnerable region of the brain. It also responds to gonadal, thyroid, and adrenal hormones, which modulate changes in synapse formation and dendritic structure and regulate dentate gyrus volume during development and in adult life. Two forms of structural plasticity are affected by stress: Repeated stress causes atrophy of dendrites in the CA3 region, and both acute and chronic stress suppresses neurogenesis of dentate gyrus granule neurons. Besides glucocorticoids, excitatory amino acids and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are involved in these two forms of plasticity as well as in neuronal death that is caused in pyramidal neurons by seizures and by ischemia. The two forms of hippocampal structural plasticity are relevant to the human hippocampus, which undergoes a selective atrophy in a number of disorders, accompanied by deficits in declarative, episodic, spatial, and contextual memory performance. It is important, from a therapeutic standpoint, to distinguish between a permanent loss of cells and a reversible atrophy. *************************************** I am trying to find articles pertaining to humans...but if you want RAT studies...email me privately tee hee! You wouldn't believe the stuff I have run into! *************************************** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 2000 Posts Kristy Posted January 14, 2002 Over 2000 Posts Report Share Posted January 14, 2002 Want to participate in a study at the NIH? http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct....tbb4eo1 Hippocampal Complex Volume and Memory Dysfunction in Cushing's Syndrome This study is currently recruiting patients. Sponsored by National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) University of Michigan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 2000 Posts Kristy Posted January 15, 2002 Over 2000 Posts Report Share Posted January 15, 2002 I'll post some links to interesting articles here: Brain hormone may hold key to memory loss, impaired cognition http://www.ucihealth.com/News/Releases/BrainHormone.htm Stress hormone-inhibitor drug can restore impaired memory caused by brain damage http://www.today.uci.edu/releases/01releases/189tv01.html Study links hormone, memory loss http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news....98.html Study finds high level of stress hormone impairs memory http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9808/19/stress.memory/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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