Working Memory
Holding and manipulating information over seconds. The cognitive measure most sensitive to lost sleep and to raised cortisol, which makes it the one most likely to move on these compounds and the one least likely to be noticed as a cognitive effect.
Relationships
3 connectionsWorking Memory stimulates
Dendritic Spine Density
How many connection points a neuron carries. Spines appear and disappear over hours, and their number is the physical substrate of how much a circuit can currently hold. Estradiol raises spine density in hippocampal CA1, and the effect tracks the hormone.
Hippocampus
Where new memory is laid down. Unusually sensitive to sustained cortisol and to lost deep sleep, both of which these compounds can produce, which makes it the structure behind most reported memory complaints.
Sleep Quality
How restorative sleep is, as opposed to how much of it there is. Deep and REM sleep are where growth hormone is released and where memory is consolidated, so this is the measure that connects a sleep effect to a memory effect. A person can sleep eight hours and get almost none of this.
Beyond this page
Working Memory also connects to 2 entries in the applied modules, covering supplements, compounds, hormones and food sources. Those carry the mechanism and the evidence tier behind each link, and they are part of client coaching.
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