Neurobiology of Aging
Volume 26, Issue 7 , Pages 1029-1033, July 2005

Estradiol or estradiol/progesterone treatment in older women: no strong effects on cognition

  • Oliver T. Wolf

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Experimental Psychology, University of Duesseldorf, Universitaetsstrasse 1, D-40225 Duesseldorf, Germany
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +49 211 81 11779; fax: +49 211 81 12019.
    • ,
  • Antje B. Heinrich

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Experimental Psychology, University of Duesseldorf, Universitaetsstrasse 1, D-40225 Duesseldorf, Germany
    • ,
  • Bettina Hanstein

      Affiliations

    • Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Germany
    • ,
  • Clemens Kirschbaum

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychology, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany

Received 9 June 2004; received in revised form 20 September 2004; accepted 28 September 2004.

Abstract 

The relevance of estrogens for cognition in older women is still debated. In this double-blind experiment hysterectomized women (age 58–75 years) received placebo (n=13), estradiol (n=12) or estradiol/progesterone (n=10) treatment. Cognitive testing (nine different tests) took place at baseline, after 4 and 24 weeks of treatment. Strong hormone increases occurred in both active treatment groups. However, no beneficial effects in any of the cognitive tests could be detected. This study, therefore, does not support the notion that treatment with sex hormones has beneficial effects on cognition in older hysterectomized women. The human brain might loose its responsiveness to gonadal steroids with aging or prolonged hormone depletion.

Keywords: Gonadal hormones, Memory, Humans, Randomized double-blind study, Hysterectomy

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PII: S0197-4580(04)00316-1

doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2004.09.012

Neurobiology of Aging
Volume 26, Issue 7 , Pages 1029-1033, July 2005

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