TY - JOUR
T1 - Stress, associative learning, and decision-making
AU - Giovanniello, Jacqueline
AU - Bravo-Rivera, Christian
AU - Rosenkranz, Amiel
AU - Matthew Lattal, K.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/10
Y1 - 2023/10
N2 - Exposure to acute and chronic stress has significant effects on the basic mechanisms of associative learning and memory. Stress can both impair and enhance associative learning depending on type, intensity, and persistence of the stressor, the subject's sex, the context that the stress and behavior is experienced in, and the type of associative learning taking place. In some cases, stress can cause or exacerbate the maladaptive behavior that underlies numerous psychiatric conditions including anxiety disorders, obsessive–compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorder, and others. Therefore, it is critical to understand how the varied effects of stress, which may normally facilitate adaptive behavior, can also become maladaptive and even harmful. In this review, we highlight several findings of associative learning and decision-making processes that are affected by stress in both human and non-human subjects and how they are related to one another. An emerging theme from this work is that stress biases behavior towards less flexible strategies that may reflect a cautious insensitivity to changing contingencies. We consider how this inflexibility has been observed in different associative learning procedures and suggest that a goal for the field should be to clarify how factors such as sex and previous experience influence this inflexibility.
AB - Exposure to acute and chronic stress has significant effects on the basic mechanisms of associative learning and memory. Stress can both impair and enhance associative learning depending on type, intensity, and persistence of the stressor, the subject's sex, the context that the stress and behavior is experienced in, and the type of associative learning taking place. In some cases, stress can cause or exacerbate the maladaptive behavior that underlies numerous psychiatric conditions including anxiety disorders, obsessive–compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorder, and others. Therefore, it is critical to understand how the varied effects of stress, which may normally facilitate adaptive behavior, can also become maladaptive and even harmful. In this review, we highlight several findings of associative learning and decision-making processes that are affected by stress in both human and non-human subjects and how they are related to one another. An emerging theme from this work is that stress biases behavior towards less flexible strategies that may reflect a cautious insensitivity to changing contingencies. We consider how this inflexibility has been observed in different associative learning procedures and suggest that a goal for the field should be to clarify how factors such as sex and previous experience influence this inflexibility.
KW - Actions
KW - Avoidance
KW - Behavioral flexibility
KW - Habits
KW - Learning
KW - Memory
KW - Social behavior
KW - Stress
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85168421324&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85168421324&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.nlm.2023.107812
DO - 10.1016/j.nlm.2023.107812
M3 - Article
C2 - 37598745
AN - SCOPUS:85168421324
SN - 1074-7427
VL - 204
JO - Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
JF - Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
M1 - 107812
ER -