Emotionally arousing and stressful experiences are often remembered better than neutral ones. Stress hormones norepinephrine and glucocorticoids are known to enhance memory consolidation, but accumulating evidence suggests that they also shape memory specificity and generalization. This is particularly relevant to psychopathologies such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), where memory alterations may contribute to persistent symptoms.
This thesis examined how norepinephrine and glucocorticoids modulate memory specificity and generalization, the underlying neural circuitry, and how endogenous differences in stress hormone signaling influence these processes. Across experiments, norepinephrine and glucocorticoids exerted opposing effects: noradrenaline promoted memory specificity, whereas glucocorticoids promoted generalization. Furthermore, individual differences in HPA-axis regulation influenced the response to glucocorticoid treatment.
These findings demonstrate that stress hormones do not simply enhance memory, but also bias memory toward specificity or generalization. They further demonstrate that individual differences can affect responses to pharmacological treatment, highlighting the importance of personalized approaches to PTSD treatment.