RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Estrogen effects on cognition in menopausal women
JF Neurology
JO Neurology
FD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
SP 21S
OP 26S
DO 10.1212/WNL.48.5_Suppl_7.21S
VO 48
IS 5 Suppl 7
A1 Barbara B. Sherwin
YR 1997
UL http://n.neurology.org/content/48/5_Suppl_7/21S.abstract
AB Article abstract-There is now considerable evidence from basic neuroscience that estrogen influences aspects of brain chemistry and brain morphology known to be important for memory functions. Prospective, controlled studies of surgically and naturally menopausal women demonstrated that exogenous estrogen enhanced short- and long-term memory and the capacity for learning new associations, whereas visual memory was unaffected. Healthy, 65-year-old women who took estrogen also performed significantly better than estrogen-nonusers who were matched for age, socioeconomic status, and years of formal education. Finally, in 32-year-old women with uterine myomas, a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a) resulted both in ovarian suppression and in a decrease in verbal memory which was reversed by addition of estrogen to the GnRH-a treatment. Taken together, these findings suggest that estrogen helps to maintain verbal memory and enhances the capacity for new learning in women, whereas other cognitive functions such as verbal memory are seemingly unaffected by this steroid hormone. NEUROLOGY 1997;48(Suppl 7): S21-S26