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Does older adults' cognition particularly suffer from stress?: A systematic review of acute stress effects on cognition in older age

Mikneviciute,Greta
; 
Ballhausen,Nicola
; 
Rimmele,Ulrike
; 
Kliegel,Matthias
Abstract
This literature review provides the first comprehensive qualitative and quantitative systematic synthesis of acute laboratory stress effects on older adults' cognition by specifying the direction and magnitude of those effects both overall and for different cognitive processes separately. A systematic literature search was performed, and effect sizes estimated whenever possible. We found meta-analytical evidence that stress has negative effects on older adults' verbal fluency (gadj = -0.53 (95% CI [-2.70, 1.63]), null-to-negative effects on episodic memory (gadj = -0.26 (95% CI [-0.44, -0.08]), null effects on executive functions (gadj = 0.07 (95% CI [-0.31, 0.46]), and enhancing effects on working memory (gadj = 0.16 (95% CI [-0.01, 0.33]). Relating these findings to those in young adults, notable differences emerged for some cognitive functions, such as opposing effects on working memory between age groups. Our review further reveals that stress effects on older adults' memory retention, associative memory, prospective memory, interference control or cognitive flexibility are heavily understudied. We provide a conceptual and methodological framework for future studies in older adults.
Description
Funding Information: This publication benefited from the support of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research LIVES – Overcoming vulnerability: Life course perspectives (NCCR LIVES) , which is financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant number: 51NF40-185901 ). The authors are grateful to the Swiss National Science Foundation for its financial assistance.
Date
2022
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Tilburg University Research Output Collection
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Keywords
Acute stress, Aging, CORTISOL RESPONSES, DECLARATIVE MEMORY, ELDERLY SUBJECTS, EPISODIC MEMORY, EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS, Episodic memory, METAANALYSIS, PERCEIVED STRESS, PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS, SEX-DIFFERENCES, Stress and cognition, TSST, WORKING-MEMORY, Working memory
Citation
Mikneviciute, G, Ballhausen, N, Rimmele, U & Kliegel, M 2022, 'Does older adults' cognition particularly suffer from stress? A systematic review of acute stress effects on cognition in older age', Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, vol. 132, pp. 583-602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.12.009
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14602/76292
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