There is now significant literature suggesting that increasing brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) signalling may improve memory-related disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. However, the effects of BDNF on short-term and working memory are not clear and existing evidence is inconsistent. Here we measured plasma BDNF and salivary cortisol levels, as well as working memory, on an N-Back task before and after mixed psychosocial/physiological stress induction in healthy males (N = 29). Stress induction was associated with higher circulating cortisol, but not BDNF levels. Higher cortisol and BDNF levels were significantly associated with poorer accuracy before and after stress induction. There was also a significant interaction, such that higher BDNF was associated with a buffering effect on the negative association between high cortisol and working memory. Future studies should replicate this data in larger samples, with emphasis on cortisol/BDNF interactions in determining working memory performance.

现在有重要的文献表明，增加脑源性神经营养因子 (BDNF) 信号可能会改善与记忆相关的疾病，如阿尔茨海默病。然而，BDNF 对短期和工作记忆的影响尚不清楚，现有证据也不一致。在这里，我们测量了健康男性（N = 29）在混合心理社会/生理压力诱导之前和之后的 N-Back 任务中的血浆 BDNF 和唾液皮质醇水平以及工作记忆。应激诱导与较高的循环皮质醇有关，但与 BDNF 水平无关。较高的皮质醇和 BDNF 水平与压力诱导前后较差的准确性显着相关。还进行了一次有意义的互动，因此，较高的 BDNF 与对高皮质醇和工作记忆之间的负相关的缓冲作用有关。未来的研究应该在更大的样本中复制这些数据，重点是在确定工作记忆性能方面的皮质醇/BDNF 相互作用。