Influence of glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptor stimulation on task switching

• Published in: Hormones and behavior 2019-03, Vol.109, p.18-24
• Main Authors: Deuter, Christian E., Wingenfeld, Katja, Schultebraucks, Katharina, Otte, Christian, Kuehl, Linn K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Cognitive flexibility; Cortisol; Cues; Diagnostic Techniques, Neurological; Double-Blind Method; Executive Function - drug effects; Female; Fludrocortisone; Fludrocortisone - pharmacology; Glucocorticoid receptor; Glucocorticoids - pharmacology; Healthy Volunteers; Humans; Hydrocortisone; Hydrocortisone - metabolism; Hydrocortisone - pharmacology; Male; Mineralocorticoid receptor; Mineralocorticoids - pharmacology; Placebos; Receptors, Glucocorticoid - agonists; Receptors, Mineralocorticoid - agonists; Task congruency effect; Task Performance and Analysis; Task switching; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0018-506X; 1095-6867
• DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.01.007

The influence of stress on executive functions has been demonstrated in numerous studies and is potentially mediated by the stress-induced cortisol release. Yet, the impact of cortisol on cognitive flexibility and task switching in particular remains equivocal. In this study, we investigated the influence of pharmacological glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) stimulation, two corticosteroid receptor types known to be responsible for cortisol effects on the brain. We conducted two experiments, each with 80 healthy participants (40 women and 40 men), and tested the effect of the unspecific MR/GR agonist hydrocortisone (Experiment I) and the more specific MR agonist fludrocortisone (Experiment II) on switch costs and task rule congruency in a bivalent, cued task switching paradigm. The results did not confirm our hypotheses; we found no significant effects of our manipulations on task switching capacity, although general switching and congruency effects were observed. We discuss the absence of MR/GR-mediated effects and propose alternative mechanisms that could explain stress induced effects on task switching. •Task switching capacity is not affected by MR or GR stimulation.•Task rule congruency effect is not affected by MR or GR stimulation.•Stress effects on both measures are potentially mediated by other mechanisms.