Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 17, 2025

Place and Response Learning in the Open-field Tower Maze
Published on: October 28, 2015
Effects of sex steroid hormones on memory
Assunta Pompili1,2, Carla Iorio3, Antonella Gasbarri3,2
1Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy; assunta.pompili@cc.univaq.it.
Abstract:
Many evidences have elucidated relevant mechanisms of action of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone on cognition, including learning and memory processes, both in animal models and humans. This influence may depend on their modulator role on several neurotransmitter systems, and the extensive presence of their receptors in cerebral areas, involved in cognitive functions, including the amygdala, hippocampal formation, and cerebral cortex. The present brief review summarizes data of our research and others with the aim of clarifying, in mammals, the involvement of sex hormones on memory. In particular, after an introduction illustrating the general mechanisms of sex hormones modulation on memory processes, the specific role of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone in memory is described in three different sections. Besides summarizing the most relevant actions of sex steroid hormones in the modulation of learning and memory, in this review is also emphasized that many aspects and mechanisms are still not completely\r\nunderstood and extensive future research is necessary to elucidate them.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Role of Neurotransmitters in Memory
Glutamate and Synaptic Plasticity
Glutamate, the brain's main excitatory neurotransmitter, is...
Traumatic Memory
Major Hormones and Their Functions
Oxytocin, produced in the hypothalamus and released by the pituitary gland, plays a role in social bonding, childbirth, and...
Role of Hippocampus in Memory
Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory
Hormones of the Adrenal Glands
The adrenal cortex, a powerhouse of hormone synthesis, generates over two dozen corticosteroid hormones. The zona glomerulosa produces mineralocorticoids, exemplified by aldosterone, influencing the electrolyte composition of body fluids. The synthesis of glucocorticoids such as cortisol and...

