Endogenous estrogen is not associated with cognitive performance before, during, or after menopause
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Updated: Jul 17, 2026

An In Vivo Estrogen Deficiency Mouse Model for Screening Exogenous Estrogen Treatments of Cardiovascular Dysfunction After Menopause
Published on: August 13, 2019
Agneta Herlitz1, Petra Thilers, Reza Habib
1Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Agneta.Herlitz@ki.se
Objective:
In a population-based sample of women (45, 50, or 55 years old), behavioral data and blood serum were collected concurrently, enabling us (1) to investigate cognitive differences among premenopausal, perimenopausal, and postmenopausal groups of women and (2) to evaluate the relationship between blood estrogen levels and cognitive performance.
Design:
Groups of premenopausal (n = 129), perimenopausal (n = 58), and postmenopausal (n = 55) women were tested on tasks assessing episodic and semantic memory, verbal fluency, visuospatial performance, and face recognition. Blood serum was collected concurrently for analyses of estrogen levels.
Results:
With inclusion of controls for age and education, results showed that there were no differences in cognitive performance among premenopausal, perimenopausal, and postmenopausal groups of women. In addition, there were no associations between blood estrogen levels and cognitive performance.
Conclusions:
These results do not support the hypothesis that estrogen or menopausal status affects cognitive performance in middle-aged women.
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