Steroid dementia syndrome describes the signs and symptoms of hippocampal and prefrontal cortical dysfunction, such as deficits in memory, attention, and executive function, induced by glucocorticoids.
[7] Similarly, variations in individual hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responsiveness can modulate the type and number of side effects.
Wolkowitz et al. (2001) presented a 10-year-old male patient, with no prior psychiatric history, who showed significant declines in academic performance that began during a 5-week course of glucocorticoid treatment for acute asthma flare.
Within days of beginning the glucocorticoid treatment, however, the patient began to show symptoms that included major depression, irritability, muscle weakness, and hallucinations ("stars" or "spots").
The treatment with steroids was stopped and three years later (while still taking buspirone, albuterol, fluticasone and salmeterol inhalers, loratadine and theophylline) the boy showed gradual improvement, but MRI brain scans revealed that the patient's hippocampal volume was 19.5% smaller than that of his twin.
His teachers reported continued deficits in memory function, new learning efficiency, verbal reasoning skills, organizational skills, attention, and concentration, deficits which were confirmed by neuropsychological testing; as such, stopping the treatment with steroids brought on a substantial but incomplete relief, the damage being possibly permanent.