Language performance in postmenopausal women with and without hormone therapy and men

In the current study, we explored the potential effects of hormone therapy (HT) on language functioning in healthy, postmenopausal women and compared them with men of similar ages.

Language functioning on tasks of verbal fluency and object naming was examined in 100 participants (mean age: 61.9 years; 33 HT users, 15 HT non-users and 52 men) at baseline and follow-up (mean follow-up time period: 2.6 years).

At baseline, men had higher composite language scores than HT users. However, HT users demonstrated more improvement over time compared with men, whereas HT non-users performed similarly to men, with no improvement over time. Longer duration of HT use was not associated with improved performance on language tests.

These results suggest an association between HT use and better language ability in postmenopausal women.