Numerous studies have shown that the presence of psychosocial stress impairs the ability to retrieve episodic memories, which raise questions about the specific cognitive processes that underlie this impairment. Here, we tested the hypothesis that stress targets retrieval processes needed to reliability discriminate previously learned from new information within episodic memory, pattern separation processing by measuring the effects of retrieval-induced stress on a modified version of the Mnemonic Similarity Task. In a two-part between-subjects design, all participants studied a series of object images in an initial testing session. In a second session, held 24 h later, half of the participants completed a stress induction task (stress group) and half performed a similarly structured but non-stressful task (control group) and all were then given a recognition memory test for the previously studied images which included new images similar to those studied (lures), and images that were completely novel (foils). Both groups performed equally well in terms of overall recognition memory, but the stress group was significantly impaired in discriminating new and similar (lure) items from studied items. This pattern of results suggests that stress specifically targets pattern separation processing when retrieving information from episodic memory. We discuss the implications of this effect, specifically how stress at retrieval reduces the ability to discriminate new from learned information.

大量研究表明，心理心理压力的存在会损害恢复情景记忆的能力，这会引发有关造成这种损害的具体认知过程的问题。在这里，我们测试了以下假设：应力目标检索过程是可靠性的必要条件，该过程需要区分先前从情节性存储器中的新信息中获悉的信息，模式分离过程，方法是通过测量检索引起的应力对助记相似度任务修改版的影响。在主体之间的两部分设计中，所有参与者在初始测试会话中研究了一系列对象图像。在24小时后举行的第二次会议中，一半的参与者完成了压力诱导任务（压力组），一半的参与者执行了结构相似但无压力的任务（对照组），然后对所有先前研究的图像进行了识别记忆测试，其中包括与研究的图像相似的新图像（糊状）和完全新颖的图像（箔）。两组在整体识别记忆方面的表现均相当好，但压力组在区分新事物和类似事物（诱饵）与研究项目时受到了显着损害。这种结果模式表明，从情节记忆中检索信息时，压力特别针对模式分离处理。我们讨论了这种影响的含义，特别是检索时的压力如何降低了从学习到的信息中区分新信息的能力。