Master
English

How does cortisol affect memory of time?

ContributorsSaliba, Marie Line
Master program titleMaîtrise universitaire en psychologie
Defense date2025
Abstract

Remembering not just what happened, but when, is a central feature of episodic memory. This ability to mentally travel through time and relive past events relies on memory of time - the ability to recall the order of events. Memory of time is shaped by event segmentation, a cognitive process that segments our continuous experience into discrete yet coherent events. Stress is also known to influence episodic memory, however its effects on memory of time remain unclear. To address this gap, we conducted a behavioural experiment with hydrocortisone administration in a double-blind placebo-controlled between-subject design. Participants encoded items in a sequence and performed temporal order, item and colour-source tasks. Our findings did not reveal a main effect of cortisol across all memory tasks. Event segmentation impaired temporal order memory and enhanced item memory but had no effect on source memory. Critically, we observed a significant interaction effect of cortisol and event segmentation on temporal order memory. These findings highlight the complexity of the interplay of cortisol and event segmentation on episodic memory.

Research groups
Citation (ISO format)
SALIBA, Marie Line. How does cortisol affect memory of time? Master, 2025.
Main files (1)
Master thesis
accessLevelRestricted
Identifiers
  • PID : unige:188024
19views
0downloads

Technical informations

Creation01/09/2025 15:01:24
First validation02/10/2025 12:37:04
Update02/10/2025 12:37:04
Status update02/10/2025 12:37:04
Last indexation02/10/2025 12:37:05
All rights reserved by Archive ouverte UNIGE and the University of GenevaunigeBlack