Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Brain Cogn. 2018 Oct 26;133:12–23. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2018.10.005

Table 3. Rodent Studies of Post-Encoding Stress Effects on Memory.

Studies are arranged by the direction of the primary effects observed, with post-encoding stress studies that showed a benefit on subsequent memory coming first. A visual examination of the table reveals that habituation may be an important factor in the direction of results, with the majority of studies that habituated rodents to the learning environment finding a positive effect of post-encoding stress on memory. All studies used exclusively male animals, and all studies introduced a context change between learning and stress.

Authors Stressor Stress Delay after Encoding % Male Strain/species Stress Duration Retrieval Test Test Delay Context Change? Habituated? Effect Notes
Maroun & Akirav (2008), Exp. 2 Elevated platform stress 0min 100 Wistar rats 30min Object recognition 24 hours Yes No +
Segev et al. (2012), Exp. 2 Elevated platform stress After microinjectiAon 100 Sprague-Dawley rats 30min Object recognition 24 hours Yes No o
Kogan & Richter-Levin (2010), Exp. 2 Foot shock 60min 100 Wistar Hanover rats 5min Morris water maze 48 hours Yes No o Warm water (i.e., less stressful)
Homiack et al. (2017) Predator odor 30min 100 Wistar rats 30min Four-arm water plus-maze 24 hours Yes Yes o Warm water, but plus maze
Vales et al. (2014) Restraint stress 0min 100 Wistar rats 60min Modified Morris water maze 672 hours Yes Yes o Warm water (i.e., less stressful)
Li et al. (2012), Exp. 1 Restraint stress 0min 100 Swiss albino mice 60min Object and location 4 hours Yes Yes o
Busquets-Garcia et al. (2016), Exp. 1 Tail suspension 20min 100 Swiss albino mice 5min Object recognition 24 hours Yes Yes − Mediated by cannabinoid system
Busquets-Garcia et al. (2016), Exp. 2 Foot shock 20, 60, 120, 180, 240 mins 100 Swiss albino mice 2.5min Object recognition 24 hours Yes Yes − Mediated by cannabinoid system
Guercio et al. (2014), Exp. 1 Restraint stress 0min 100 C57BL/6 mice 90min Object recognition 24 hours Yes Yes −
Guercio et al. (2014), Exp. 2 Restraint stress 0min 100 C57BL/6 mice 90min Object recognition 24 hours Yes Yes −
Guercio et al. (2014), Exp. 3 Restraint stress 0min 100 C57BL/6 mice 90min Object recognition 24 hours Yes Yes −
Guercio et al. (2014), Exp. 4 Restraint stress 0min 100 C57BL/6 mice 90min Object recognition 24 hours Yes Yes −
Li et al. (2012), Exp. 2 Restraint stress 0min 100 Swiss albino mice 60min Object and location 24 hours Yes Yes − Impairment present in both tasks
Maroun & Akirav (2008), Exp. 1 Elevated platform stress 0min 100 Wistar rats 30min Object recognition 24 hours Yes Yes −
Segev et al. (2012), Exp. 1 Elevated Platform stress After microinjection 100 Sprague-Dawley rats 30min Object recognition 24 hours Yes Yes −
Kogan & Richter-Levin (2010), Exp. 1 Foot shock 60min 100 Wistar Hanover rats 5min Morris water maze 48 hours Yes No − Cold water (i.e., more stressful)

Note: + represents an enhancing effect of stress on memory, o represents a null effect, and - represents an impairing effect.