Steroid hormones, memory and mood in a healthy elderly population

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Endocrinology
• Psychology

Background:

• Aging is associated with cognitive decline, including memory impairments.
• Hormonal changes, such as decreased testosterone and estradiol, occur with aging in both men and women.
• Estrogen replacement therapy is used in some postmenopausal women, with potential cognitive benefits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between sex hormones and cognitive function in elderly individuals.
• To compare memory performance and hormone levels across elderly men, women on estrogen, and women not on estrogen.
• To explore the role of dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEAS) and cortisol (CRT) ratio in memory.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study involving 31 men, 14 women estrogen-users, and 41 women estrogen non-users (mean age 72.1 years).
• Assessment of cognitive functions including verbal memory, visual memory, attention, and language fluency using psychological tests.
• Measurement of plasma hormone levels: testosterone (T), estradiol (E2), cortisol (CRT), and DHEAS via radioimmunoassay.

Main Results:

• Men exhibited higher T and DHEAS levels than both female groups.
• Estrogen-users had higher E2 levels than men and non-users; men had higher E2 and DHEAS/CRT ratio than non-users.
• Men and estrogen-users showed superior performance on digit span tests (total and forward), while estrogen-users also excelled in backward digit span. Both female groups outperformed men in category retrieval.

Conclusions:

• Hormonal profiles, particularly higher T, E2, and DHEAS, are associated with better memory performance in elderly men and women.
• Estrogen use in women appears to confer cognitive advantages, especially in tasks requiring working memory.
• These findings highlight the significant role of sex hormones in maintaining cognitive function during aging.