Key Points
-
Cognitive decline in menopause affects episodic memory and executive functions.
-
These domains are postulated to be vulnerable to and modulated by exposure to endogenous and exogenous estrogens.
-
The significant amount of research that studies the relationship between estrogens and the cognitive performance in menopausal women has not produced consistent results in the last two decades.
-
Further investigation taking into account different aspects as cultural items, type of menopause (natural or surgical), type of impairment in the cognitive functioning, etc. is needed to finally answer the questions regarding the role of estrogens and hormone replacement therapy on cognition.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Abbreviations
- THR:
-
Therapy of hormone replacement
- HT:
-
Hormone therapy
- RT:
-
Reaction time
- ET:
-
Estrogen replacement
- ETR:
-
Estrogen replacement therapy
- WHS:
-
Women’s Health Study
- MT:
-
Menopausal transition
References
Master W, Johnson V, Kolodny RC. La sexualidad humana. Barcelona: Grijalbo; 1987.
Comisión Europea. Green paper “Confronting demographic change: a new solidarity between generations”. 2002. Disponible en http://europa.eu.int-lex/lex/LexUriServ/site/en/com/2005/com2005_0094en04.pdf
Larroy C. Trastornos específicos de la mujer. Madrid: Síntesis; 2004.
Hurtado F, Donat F, Poveda C, Rubio C, Ull N. Mujer y climaterio: un estudio para la mejora de la calidad de vida. Cuad Med Psicosom Psiquiatr Enlace. 1999;51/52:49–68.
Stanton A, Lobel M, Sears S, Stein De Luca R. Psychosocial aspects of selected issues in women’s reproductive health: current status and future directions. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2002;70(3):751–70.
Gold EB, Sternfeld B, Kelsey JL, Brown C, Mouton C, Reame N, et al. Relation of demographic and lifestyle factors to symptoms in a multi-racial/ethnic population of women 40–55 years of age. Am J Epidemiol. 1999;152(5):463–73.
Dillaway H, Byrnes M, Miller S, Rehan S. Talking “amon us”: how women from different racial-ethnic groups define and discuss menopause. Health Care Women Int. 2008;29:766–81.
Delgado A, Sánchez MC, Galindo I, Pérez C, Duque MJ. Actitudes de las mujeres ante la menopausia y variables predoctoras. Aten Primaria. 2001;27(1):27–41.
Acosta JI. Etiology of menopause impacts cognition. DAI B Sci Eng. 2010;70(11-B):7258.
Henderson VW, Popat RA. Effects of endogenous and exogenous estrogen exposures in midlife and late-life women on episodic memory and executive functions. Neuroscience. 2011;191(12):129–38.
Boulware MI, Kent BA, Frick KM. The impact of age-related ovarian hormone loss on cognitive and neural function. Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2012;10:165–84.
Romeu A, Juliá M. Fisiología de la Menopausia. In: Sánchez-Cánovas J, editor. Menopausia y Salud. Barcelona: Ariel; 1996.
Carnicer C, Castro OP, Paublete MC. Aspectos básicos de la fisiología del climaterio. Psiquiatria.com: Interpsiquis 2002.
Leal Cercós C, Crespo HM. Introducción. In: Cercós L, editor. Trastornos depresivos en la mujer. Barcelona: Masson; 1999.
Bochino S. Aspectos psiconeuroendócrinos de la perimenopausia, menopausia y climaterio. Revista Psiquiátrica Urug. 2005;70(1):66–79.
González CO. Aspectos psiconeuroendocrinos del climaterio. In: Jadresic A, Ojeda C, Pérez G, editors. Psiconeuroendocrinología. Santiago: Mediterráneo; 2000.
Halbreich U, Lumley LA, Palter S, Manning C, Gengo F, Joe SH. Possible acceleration of age effects on cognition following menopause. J Psychiatr Res. 1995;29(3):153–63.
Genazzani AR, Spinetti A, Gallo R, Bernardi F. Menopause and the central nervous system: intervention options. Maturitas. 1999;31(2):103–10.
Rocca WA, Grossardt BR, Shuster LT. Oophorectomy, menopause, estrogen treatment, and cognitive aging: clinical evidence for a window of opportunity. Brain Res. 2011;1379:188–98.
Daniel JM, Bohacek J. The critical period hypothesis of estrogen effects on cognition: insights from basic research. Biochim Byophys Acta. 2010;1800(10):1068–76.
Sherwin BB, Henry JF. Brain aging modulates the neuroprotective effects of estrogen on selective aspects of cognition in women: a critical review. Front Neuroendocrinol. 2008;29(1):88–113.
Ryan J, Carriere I, Scali J, Dartigues JF, Tzourio C, Poncet M, et al. Characteristics of hormone therapy, cognitive function, and dementia: the prospective 3C Study. Neurology. 2009;73(21):1729–37.
Korol DL, Manning CA. Effects of estrogen on cognition: implications for menopause. In: Carroll ME, Overmier JB, editors. Animal research and human health: advancing human welfare through behavioural science. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2001. p. 305–22.
Fillit H. Future therapeutic developments of estrogen use. J Clin Pharmacol. 1995;35(9 Suppl):25S–8.
Frick JM, Fernández SM, Harburger LL. A new approach to understanding the molecular mechanisms through wich estrogens affect cognition. Biochim Byophys Acta. 2010;1800(10):1045–55.
Dumas JA, Kutz AM, Naylor MR, Jonhson JV, Newhouse PA. Increased memory load-related frontal activation after estradiol treatment in postmenopausal women. Horm Behav. 2010;58(5):929–35.
Gibbs RB. Estrogen therapy and cognition: a review of the cholinergic hypothesis. Endocr Rev. 2010;31(2):224–53.
Rice K, Morse C. Measuring cognition in menopause research: a review of test use. Climacteric. 2003;6(1):2–22.
Miles C, Green R, Sanders G, Hines M. Estrogen and memory in a transsexual population. Horm Behav. 1998;34:199–208.
Tinelli A, Menis T, Brotto F, Tinelli R, Tinelli FG. Depression, menopause and hormonal replacement therapy (HRT). Minerva Ginecol. 2003;55(3):221–31.
Henderson VW. Action of estrogens in the aging brain: dementia and cognitive aging. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2009;18020(10):1077–83.
Leblanc ES, Neiss MB, Carello PE, Samuels MH, Janowsky JS. Hot Flashes and estrogen therapy do not influence cognition in early menopausal women. Menopause. 2007;14(2):191–202.
Hemerlink K, Henschel V, Untch M, Bauerfeind I, Lux MP, Munzel K. Short-term effects of treatment induced hormonal changes on cognitive function in breast cancer patients. Cancer. 2008;113(9):2431–9.
Greendale GA, Huang MH, Wight RG, Lutters C, Avis N, Johnston J, et al. Effects of the menopause transition and hormone use on cognitive performance in midlife women. Neurology. 2009;72(21):1850–1857.
Mitchell ES, Woods NF. Cognitive symptoms during the menopausal transition and early postmenopause. Climacteric. 2011;14(2):252–61.
Morse CA, Rice K. Memory after menopause: preliminary considerations of hormone influence on cognitive functioning. Arch Womens Ment Health. 2005;8:155–62.
Picazo O, Espinosa-Raya J, Jimenez-Trejo F, Suarez J. Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry Volume 11, 2011;13:1742–49(8).
Miles C, Green R, Hines M. Estrogen treatment effects on cognition, memory and mood in male-to-female transsexuals. Hormones and Behavior (2006) xxx–xxx. www.scienciedirect.com.
Talboom JS, Engler-Chiurazzi EB, Whiteaker P, Simard AR, Lukas R, Acosta JI, et al. A component of Premarin((R)) enhances multiple cognitive functions and influences nicotinic receptor expression. Horm Behav. 2010;58(5):917–28.
Hogervorst E, Bandelow S. Sex steroids to maintain cognitive function in women after the menopause: A meta-analyses of treatment trials. Maturitas. 2010;66(1):56–71.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Larroy, C., Vera, R. (2013). Cognitive Decline in Menopause. In: Hollins Martin, C., Watson, R., Preedy, V. (eds) Nutrition and Diet in Menopause. Nutrition and Health. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-373-2_26
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-373-2_26
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
Print ISBN: 978-1-62703-372-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-62703-373-2
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)