Cognitive neuroscience of stress

Abstract

Stress has profound impacts on physiology, the brain, cognition and behaviour. In response to stress, the brain initiates several neuromodulatory and endocrine systems. This leads to the release of stress-sensitive mediators, including neuromodulators, hormones and neuropeptides, which in turn feed back on the brain and thus alters cognition and behaviour. As the progress of sophisticated cognitive neuroimaging techniques, cognitive neuroscientists have begun to elucidate the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying detrimental and beneficial effects of stress on emotion, cognition and behaviour in the human brain. Stress-related neuromodulations occur at various stages of information processing, from the initial vigilance, attention, executive functions, learning and memory, and emotion. We reviewed recent advances in cognitive neuroscience of stress and proposed a multidimensional model of stress for better understanding how stress-sensitive neuromodulatory and endocrine systems interplay to impact the brain, cognition and behaviour in humans.