THE IMPACT OF ACUTE AND CHRONIC STRESS ON MEMORY ENCODING AND RETRIEVAL IN STUDENTS
Abstract
Stressis a very important factor inthedevelopment of cognitive functioning,especially the memory encoding and retrievalprocesses,which are vital to academic achievements. The review will assess the effects of acute and chronic stress onmemory processes in students via the synthesis of neurobiological, psychological, and educational facts. Stress may occuras a result of inherent mental or external environmental problems that stimulate the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary axisand the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Although acute stress can be temporarily alert-enhancing and promotememory encoding, chronic stress, which is characterized by sustained cortisol elevation, affects neural plasticity in anadverse way, impairs the functioning of the hippocampal and prefrontal areas, and impairs the process of consolidationand retrieval. Literature by students has shown that academic pressure, test anxiety, and prolonged workload usually leadto retrieval failure, cognitive exhaustion, and poor academic outcomes. The thematic analysis also promotes thedifferences between individuals concerning age, coping capacity, sociocultural factors,and the possible positive impactof mild stress (eustress). With the help of questionnaires, medical histories, and standardized memory tests, there isevidence that stress-relief approaches include mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral methods, sufficient sleep, and structuredrelaxation methods, which can restore cognitive abilities. On the whole, the results highlight the necessity of integratedstress-management systems to facilitate the well-being of students and achieve the maximum learning success.
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