Scene memory and hippocampal volume in middle-aged women with early hormone loss

Gervais, Nicole; Gravelsins, Laura; Brown, Alana; Reuben, Rebekah; Karkaby, Laurice; Baker‐Sullivan, Elizabeth; Mendoza, Leanne; Lauzon, Claire; Almey, Anne; Foulkes, William D.; Bernardini, Marcus Q.; Jacobson, Michelle; Velsher, Lea; Rajah, M. Natasha; Olsen, Rosanna K.; Grady, Cheryl L.; Einstein, Gillian

doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2022.05.003

Cited by 17 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Other clinical neuroimaging studies examining structural, functional, and metabolic effects of menopause on the brain, have accounted for chronological age differences in Pre- and Post-Meno females by covarying out the effect of age and enrolling age-matched males with the assumption that chronological age effects would be similar in both sexes (Mosconi et al, 2021). However, it is likely that chronological and endocrine aging interact (Ambikairajah et al, 2020; Gervais et al, 2022). Therefore, here, we broadly sampled Pre- and Post-Meno females across a large midlife window (39.5 – 65.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Menopause status and within group differences in chronological age affect the functional neural correlates of spatial context memory in middle-aged females

Crestol,

Rajagopal,

Lissaman

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Reductions in the ability to encode and retrieve past experiences in rich spatial contextual detail (episodic memory) are apparent by midlife – a time when most females experience spontaneous (natural) menopause. Yet, little is known about how menopause status and chronological aging influence the functional brain networks associated with episodic memory. Female-specific investigations of memory-related brain function at midlife are thus warranted to advance our knowledge of how menopause and chronological aging affect cognitive brain aging in middle-aged females. We conducted an event-related task fMRI study of episodic memory for spatial context and used multivariate partial least squares (PLS) to investigate how chronological age and retrieval accuracy correlated with brain activity in 31 middle-aged premenopausal (age range: 39.55 – 53.30 yrs,Mage= 44.41 yrs,SDage= 3.12 yrs) and 41 middle-aged postmenopausal females (age range: 46.70 to 65.14 yrs,Mage= 57.05 yrs,SDage= 3.93 yrs). Behaviorally, both advanced age and postmenopausal status contributed to lower spatial context memory. PLS analysis of the fMRI data indicated that premenopausal, but not postmenopausal, females exhibited a positive correlation between lateral PFC, midline cortical, and angular gyrus activity during retrieval and spatial context memory performance. Also, only postmenopausal females advanced age was correlated with decreased activity in occipitotemporal, parahippocampal, and inferior parietal during encoding and retrieval and poorer spatial context memory performance. Our results highlight that both menopause and chronological aging affect episodic memory and related brain function in middle-aged females.Significance StatementThis study advances our understanding of how menopause status and chronological age affect memory-related brain function in middle-aged females. Using data driven multivariate partial least squares (PLS) regression for behavioral analysis and PLS correlation for fMRI analysis we found: 1) advanced age and post-menopause status negatively affected spatial context memory, 2) Only premenopausal females exhibited overlap in encoding and retrieval activity in angular gyrus, midline cortical regions, and prefrontal cortex, which correlated with better spatial context retrieval accuracy, and 3) age was correlated with reduced encoding and retrieval activity in occipitotemporal, parahippocampal, inferior parietal in only post-menopause, and this was associated with poorer spatial context memory.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Menopause status and within group differences in chronological age affect the functional neural correlates of spatial context memory in middle-aged females

Crestol,

Rajagopal,

Lissaman

et al. 2023

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…Recent studies of younger women have suggested that PBO may be associated with subjective cognitive decline 37 or with lower performance in specific cognitive domains including scene memory, working memory, or attention/executive function. 11,38 Future research in this cohort will assess the association between PBO with or without hysterectomy and specific cognitive domains or subjective cognitive complaints.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term effects of premenopausal bilateral oophorectomy with or without hysterectomy on physical aging and chronic medical conditions

Mielke,

Kapoor,

Geske

et al. 2023

Menopause

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Objective We examined the long-term effects of premenopausal bilateral oophorectomy (PBO) with or without concurrent or preceding hysterectomy on physical and cognitive function and on odds of chronic conditions. Methods We enrolled 274 women with PBO with or without concurrent or preceding hysterectomy and 240 referents aged 55 years and older who were residents of Olmsted County, MN as of the PBO or index date. Chronic conditions were assessed via medical record abstraction. Cognitive diagnoses were based on neurocognitive testing. A physical function assessment included measures of strength and mobility. Multivariable regression models compared characteristics for women with PBO <46 years, PBO 46–49 years, and referent women with adjustments for age and other confounders. Results The clinical visits (median age, 67 years) were a median of 22 years after the PBO or index date. Of 274 women with PBO, 161 (59%) were <46 years at PBO and 113 (41%) were 46–49 years. Compared with referents, women with a history of PBO <46 years had increased odds of arthritis (odds ratio [OR], 1.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06–2.55), asthma (OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.03–2.93), obstructive sleep apnea (OR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.23–3.26), and bone fractures (OR, 2.86; 95% CI, 1.17–6.98), and walked a shorter mean distance on a 6-minute walk test (b = −18.43; P = 0.034). Compared with referents, women with a history of PBO at age 46–49 years had increased odds of arthritis (OR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.16–3.18) and obstructive sleep apnea (OR, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.33–3.66). There were no significant differences in cognitive status in women with PBO compared with referents. Conclusions Women with a history of PBO with or without concurrent or preceding hysterectomy, especially at age <46 years, have more chronic conditions in late mid-life compared with referents.

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“…Our psychological data consistently showed that women who experienced surgical menopause differ significantly from women who achieved NSM on the PAL test. The absence of perimenopause could cause not only cognitive decline (Rocca et al, 2021 ), but also neurological changes such as smaller volume of medial temporal lobe structures (Gervais et al, 2022 ; Zeydan et al, 2019 ). Consistently, our whole‐brain vertex‐wise analysis detected a significant decrease in volume in the temporal cortex (including entorhinal and parahippocampal regions), cingulate isthmus, and occipital and prefrontal areas bilaterally.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These changes are associated with menopausal symptoms, such as cognitive impairment, which is caused by changes in the levels of different sex hormones, especially decreased estradiol levels (Kim et al, 2018) and could be related to the risk of AD (Mosconi et al, 2018). Previous region of interest (ROI) studies found marked atrophy of the amygdala and hippocampus in women who experienced surgical menopause compared to women who reached NSM (Gervais et al, 2022;Zeydan et al, 2019). The authors suggested that atrophy of the amygdala and hippocampus could potentially serve as a biomarker indicating an elevated risk of dementia in women who underwent surgical menopause.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Previous pregnancies might mitigate cortical brain differences associated with surgical menopause

Fernández‐Pena,

Navas‐Sánchez,

de Blas

et al. 2023

Human Brain Mapping

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Surgical menopause causes a sharp drop in estrogen levels in middle‐aged women, thus preventing the gradual physiological adaptation that is characteristic of the perimenopause. Previous studies suggest that surgical menopause might increase the risk of dementia later in life. In addition, the transition to motherhood entails long‐lasting endocrine and neuronal adaptations. We compared differences in whole‐brain cortical volume between women who reached menopause by surgery and a group of women who reached spontaneous non‐surgical menopause and determined whether these cortical differences were influenced by previous childbearing. Using surface‐based neuroimaging techniques, we investigated cortical volume differences in 201 middle‐aged women (134 women who experienced non‐surgical menopause, 78 of whom were parous women; and 67 women who experienced surgical menopause, 39 of whom were parous women). We found significant atrophy in the frontal and temporal regions in women who experienced surgical menopause. Nulliparous women with surgical menopause showed significant lower cortical volume in the left temporal gyrus extending to the medial temporal lobe cortex, as well as in the precuneus bilaterally compared to parous women with surgical menopause; whereas our results revealed no significant differences between parous women with surgical menopause and both parous and nulliparous women who reached a non‐surgical menopause. Furthermore, in the surgical menopause group, we found a negative correlation between cortical volume and age at first pregnancy in the temporal lobe. Our study suggests that the long‐term brain remodeling of parity may mitigate the neural impact of the sudden drop in estrogen levels that characterizes surgical menopause.

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Scene memory and hippocampal volume in middle-aged women with early hormone loss

Cited by 17 publications

References 45 publications

Menopause status and within group differences in chronological age affect the functional neural correlates of spatial context memory in middle-aged females

Menopause status and within group differences in chronological age affect the functional neural correlates of spatial context memory in middle-aged females

Long-term effects of premenopausal bilateral oophorectomy with or without hysterectomy on physical aging and chronic medical conditions

Previous pregnancies might mitigate cortical brain differences associated with surgical menopause

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