Effects of Sex Hormones and Age on Brain Volume in Post-Menopausal Women

Kim, Gwang-Won; Park, Kwangsung; Jeong, Gwang‐Woo

doi:10.1016/j.jsxm.2018.03.006

Cited by 47 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For instance, compared with premenopausal women, postmenopausal women have lower gray matter volumes in the supplementary motor area and other frontal (e.g., inferior frontal gyrus) and temporal (e.g., superior temporal gyrus) regions, and across women, volumes were positively correlated with estradiol . Although pre‐ and post‐menopausal women also differed in hippocampal volume, findings did not withstand corrections for age . In other work, though, hippocampal volume was positively linked to verbal memory in postmenopausal women, providing early indication that gray matter reductions not only reflect estradiol decline, but also have implications for cognition.…”

Section: Menopausementioning

confidence: 87%

“…There is emerging evidence for structural decrements associated with menopause and some suggestion that they are related to declining estradiol levels. For instance, compared with premenopausal women, postmenopausal women have lower gray matter volumes in the supplementary motor area and other frontal (e.g., inferior frontal gyrus) and temporal (e.g., superior temporal gyrus) regions, and across women, volumes were positively correlated with estradiol . Although pre‐ and post‐menopausal women also differed in hippocampal volume, findings did not withstand corrections for age .…”

Section: Menopausementioning

confidence: 88%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Ovarian hormones: a long overlooked but critical contributor to cognitive brain structures and function

Beltz

Moser

2019

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cognitive neuroscience research has traditionally overlooked half of the population. Arguing that variability in ovarian hormones confounds empirical findings, girls and women have been excluded from research for decades. But times are changing. This review summarizes historical trends that have led to a knowledge gap in the role of ovarian hormones in neuroscience, synthesizes recent findings on ovarian hormone contributions to cognitive brain structures and function, and highlights areas ripe for future work. This is accomplished by reviewing research that has leveraged natural experiments in humans across the life span that focus on puberty, the menstrual cycle, hormonal contraceptive use, menopause, and menopausal hormone therapy. Although findings must be considered in light of study designs (e.g., sample characteristics and group comparisons versus randomized crossover trials), across natural experiments there is consistent evidence for associations of estradiol with cortical thickness, especially in frontal regions, and hippocampal volumes, as well as with frontal regions during cognitive processing. There are also emerging investigations of resting state connectivity and progesterone along with exciting opportunities for future work, particularly concerning biopsychosocial moderators of and individual differences in effects in novel natural experiments. Thus, delineating complex ovarian hormone contributions to cognitive brain structures and function will advance neuroscience.

show abstract

Section: Menopausementioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Menopausementioning

confidence: 88%

Ovarian hormones: a long overlooked but critical contributor to cognitive brain structures and function

Beltz

Moser

2019

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In contrast, older women showed increased left posterior-superior hippocampal GMV compared to older men. It might well be the case that for women hormonal changes after menopause modulate these specific hippocampal GMV differences in comparison to men 11 . Additional information on this effect is provided in the Supplement.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel findings from 2,838 Adult Brains on Sex Differences in Gray Matter Brain Volume

Lotze

Domín

Gerlach

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

207

136

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is still disagreement among studies with respect to the magnitude, location, and direction of sex differences of local gray matter volume (GMV) in the human brain. Here, we applied a state-of-the-art technique examining GMV in a well-powered sample (n = 2,838) validating effects in two independent general-population cohorts, age range 21–90 years, measured using the same MRI scanner. More GMV in women than in men was prominent in medial and lateral prefrontal areas, the superior temporal sulcus, the posterior insula, and orbitofrontal cortex. In contrast, more GMV in men than in women was detected in subcortical temporal structures, such as the amygdala, hippocampus, temporal pole, fusiform gyrus, visual primary cortex, and motor areas (premotor cortex, putamen, anterior cerebellum). The findings in this large-scale study may clarify previous inconsistencies and contribute to the understanding of sex-specific differences in cognition and behavior.

show abstract

“…It should be noted that the greatest effect was seen in patients who experienced cognitive deficits prior to initiating hormone therapy. A further study demonstrated decreases in gray matter volume in the superior temporal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, olfactory cortex and supplementary motor area in postmenopausal women when correcting for age [47]. This provides conflicting evidence for the effects of E2 treatment on brain volume.…”

Section: Cognitive and Morphological Changes With Changing E2 Levelsmentioning

confidence: 96%

The Role of Estrogen in Brain and Cognitive Aging

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There are 3 common physiological estrogens, of which estradiol (E2) is seen to decline rapidly over the menopausal transition. This decline in E2 has been associated with a number of changes in the brain, including cognitive changes, effects on sleep, and effects on mood. These effects have been demonstrated in both rodent and non-human preclinical models. Furthermore, E2 interactions have been indicated in a number of neuropsychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, and depression. In normal brain aging, there are a number of systems that undergo changes and a number of these show interactions with E2, particularly the cholinergic system, the dopaminergic system, and mitochondrial function. E2 treatment has been shown to ameliorate some of the behavioral and morphological changes seen in preclinical models of menopause; however, in clinical populations, the effects of E2 treatment on cognitive changes after menopause are mixed. The future use of sex hormone treatment will likely focus on personalized or precision medicine for the prevention or treatment of cognitive disturbances during aging, with a better understanding of who may benefit from such treatment.

show abstract

Effects of Sex Hormones and Age on Brain Volume in Post-Menopausal Women

Cited by 47 publications

References 25 publications

Ovarian hormones: a long overlooked but critical contributor to cognitive brain structures and function

Ovarian hormones: a long overlooked but critical contributor to cognitive brain structures and function

Novel findings from 2,838 Adult Brains on Sex Differences in Gray Matter Brain Volume

The Role of Estrogen in Brain and Cognitive Aging

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About