SynthesisNeuroscience and biobehavioral reviews2016
The effects of acute stress on core executive functions: A meta-analysis and comparison with cortisol.
Synthesis in Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 329 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effects of Microencapsulated Sublingual Glycine (Bidicin) on Cognitive Performance in Healthy Men After an Acute Stressor - a Randomized, Partly Double-blind Placebo-controlled Clinical Trial
The Distinct Effects of Mind-Body Modalities on Health Outcomes in Nursing Students
Support for Cancer Patients Awaiting News (SCAN Study): Pilot Testing a Stress Management Program
Who cites it
329 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of physical activity on motor, communication, social, and executive function in children with autism spectrum disorder: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.European journal of pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Intervention effect of a single exercise session on executive function in children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a three-level meta-analysis.BMC pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Validity and effectiveness of interrogation techniques: A meta-analytic review.Military psychology : the official journal of the Division of Military Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of Exercise Training on Executive Functioning in Adults with Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2023Pooled it
- Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinically Relevant Executive Functions Tests Performance after COVID-19.Behavioural neurology · 2023Pooled it
- Hypnosis reshapes multilevel stress response and enhances executive performance in stressed medical students.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Optimizing just-in-time adaptive interventions for interpersonal distress: mechanisms, prediction, and the challenge of engagement.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Emotional intelligence training improves stress regulation and performance in high-stress occupations.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Acute Stress Impacts Executive-Social Function: Evidence From Prefrontal Activation and fNIRS-Based Hyperscanning.Brain and behavior · 2026Trial
- A semi-randomised control trial assessing psychophysiological effects of breathwork and cold immersion.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Prefrontal cortex stimulation prevents stress-induced HPA axis reactivity in people at familial risk of schizophrenia.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Network activation and its association with perceived stress underlie performance under stressful high demand.Neurobiology of stress · 2026Article
- Penny for your thoughts: A review and proposed model of socioeconomic status, working memory and worry.The British journal of developmental psychology · 2026Review
- Blunted diurnal cortisol slope as a risk marker for 9-year executive function decline: amplification by daily stress and worry severity.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Executive functions as a transdiagnostic endophenotype in developmental psychopathology.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Attachment Anxiety and Disordered Eating Among Chinese Young Women: The Mediation of Different Negative Emotions.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Beyond neural oscillations: Stress-related aperiodic activity and aperiodic-oscillatory spectral covariation.iScience · 2026Article
- Effects of bogus genetic feedback on subjective and physiological responses to acute stress.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Article
269 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Core executive functions such as working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility are integral to daily life. A growing body of research has suggested that acute stress may impair core executive functions. However, there are a number of inconsistencies in the literature, leading to uncertainty about how or even if acute stress influences core executive functions. We addressed this by conducting a meta-analysis of acute stress effects on working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility. We found that stress impaired working memory and cognitive flexibility, whereas it had nuanced effects on inhibition. Many of these effects were moderated by other variables, such as sex. In addition, we compared effects of acute stress on core executive functions to effects of cortisol administration and found some striking differences. Our findings indicate that stress works through mechanisms aside from or in addition to cortisol to produce a state characterized by more reactive processing of salient stimuli but greater control over actions. We conclude by highlighting some important future directions for stress and executive function research.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.