This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 91/11/4476    most recent Author Manuscript (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Smith, Y. R. Articles by Zubieta, J.-K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Smith, Y. R. Articles by Zubieta, J.-K. Pubmed/NCBI databases Compound via MeSH Substance via MeSH Hazardous Substances DB ESTRADIOL NORETHINDRONE Medline Plus Health Information Memory MRI Scans Related Collections Female Endocrinology Neuroendocrinology and Pituitary

Impact of Combined Estradiol and Norethindrone Therapy on Visuospatial Working Memory Assessed by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Y.R.S., A.T.), Department of Psychiatry (T.L., C.C.P., J.-K.Z.), Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute (T.L., J.-K.Z.), Medical School, and Department of Biostatistics (T.E.N.), School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-0276

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Yolanda R. Smith, M.D., M.S., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan Health Systems, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Room L4224, Women’s Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-0276. E-mail: ysmith{at}umich.edu.

Context: Hormones regulate neuronal function in brain regions critical to cognition; however, the cognitive effects of postmenopausal hormone therapy are controversial.

Objective: The goal was to evaluate the effect of postmenopausal hormone therapy on neural circuitry involved in spatial working memory.

Design: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study was performed.

Setting: The study was performed in a tertiary care university medical center.

Participants: Ten healthy postmenopausal women of average age 56.9 yr were recruited.

Interventions: Volunteers were randomized to the order they received hormone therapy (5 µg ethinyl estradiol and 1 mg norethindrone acetate). Subjects received hormone therapy or placebo for 4 wk, followed by a 1-month washout period with no medications, and then received the other treatment for 4 wk. At the end of each 4-wk treatment period, a functional magnetic resonance imaging study was performed using a nonverbal (spatial) working memory task, the Visual Delayed Matching to Sample task.

Main Outcome Measure: The effects of hormone therapy on brain activation patterns were compared with placebo.

Results: Compared with the placebo condition, hormone therapy was associated with a more pronounced activation in the prefrontal cortex (BA 44 and 45), bilaterally (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Hormone therapy was associated with more effective activation of a brain region critical in primary visual working memory tasks. The data suggest a functional plasticity of memory systems in older women that can be altered by hormones.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. A. Dumas, A. J. Saykin, B. C. McDonald, T. W. McAllister, M. L. Hynes, and P. A. Newhouse Nicotinic Versus Muscarinic Blockade Alters Verbal Working Memory-Related Brain Activity in Older Women Am J Geriatr Psychiatry, April 1, 2008; 16(4): 272 - 282. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]