How Stress Works With and Against Your Memory

A little stress can be a great motivator, such as when prompting a student to study before an important exam. A lot of stress, however, can create more of an obstacle than a benefit. This is true when it comes to many things, including health-promoting behaviors, relationships, and even our memory.

Stress can inhibit the way we form and retrieve memories, ultimately affecting how our memory works. Learn what studies show about the relationship between stress and memory, as well as how to reverse memory loss from stress.

How Stress Affects Memory

Research has found that stress affects our memory in many ways, each of which has different impacts.

Stress and Memory Formation

Stress can affect how memories are formed. When stressed, people have a more difficult time creating short-term memories and turning those short-term memories into long-term memories. This means that it is more difficult to learn when stressed.

Memories can also change after they are formed. Every time we retrieve a memory, we color it with our present experience of it—like when we take something off a shelf and then put it back, leaving another set of fingerprints from having handled it again.

Stress and Memory Type

Stress can affect the type of memories we form as well. If we are stressed during an event, we may have more difficulty accurately remembering the details of the event later. The stress colors our perception as well as our ability to recall what we perceived.

Research shows that if people are questioned and given misleading information about something they experienced, that information will influence their memory and what they thought they experienced. This new, yet faulty information is then easier to recall because it is more recent than the event itself. This is why false memories can be created with well-intentioned lines of questioning.

Additional Impacts

A meta-analysis was conducted on 113 stress studies, meaning that researchers examined these independent studies to determine their major findings. What do these studies show about the relationship between stress and money?

• Timing of the stressor matters. One of the most interesting findings was that stress could impede the formation of memories if it occurred prior to or during encoding, the time during which the memory is formed. But post-encoding stress actually improved memory formation and retrieval, meaning stress that occurred after the memory was formed actually led to better memory-making.
• Cortisol increases don't affect memory. Stress increases cortisol, but studies found no correlation between cortisol amounts and the effects of stress on memory. This means that if you create more cortisol during your stress response, this won't necessarily mean that your memory will be more impaired than someone less hormonally-responsive. Interestingly, women who were on oral contraceptives experienced less of a negative effect.
• Stress-related exhaustion has negative impacts. Stress can also lead to exhaustion, and this can lead to cognitive impairment that includes issues with attention and working memory. Unfortunately, memory impairment can still be detected three years later, even after the exhaustion has been addressed. This underscores the importance of managing stress before it gets to this point.​

Improve Your Memory Under Stress

There are several things you can do to improve your memory when stressed. Fortunately, these techniques also help manage stress. One of the most important is to practice personal self-care: get enough sleep, eat a healthy diet, and manage stress.

Other important strategies work as well. Here are some research-backed strategies to try:

• Train yourself in breathing exercises and other relaxation techniques. One study of police cadets found that psychological performance training improved the recall of cadets who experienced stress. Techniques used included breathing exercises, mental imagery, and attentional focus. When stressed, try these techniques to improve recall.
• Get moving. A study examining the effects of aerobic exercise on people with memory impairment found that a 12-week workout program indeed improved their memory. The subjects were experiencing mild cognitive impairment from stress-related exhaustion, so these results are especially relevant for those who are stressed.
• Practice mindfulness. Researchers have also found that practicing mindfulness can help with memory not only by minimizing stress but also by enabling better quality sleep. One study found that practicing mindfulness resulted in less stress as well as fewer memory issues and sleep problems. Additionally, since mindfulness is based around being more aware and present, you may be better able to pay attention to and remember details you might not have otherwise.

Summary

Stress impacts so much of our lives, and although we can't always eliminate that stress entirely, we can learn to manage it in a way that will help support self-improvement in many areas of our lives, including improved memory.