Estrogen and performance in recognition memory for olfactory and visual stimuli in females diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Full Abstract

Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) exhibit a deficit in episodic recognition memory for odors. It is hypothesized that the higher rate of AD in women may be due to estrogen-deprivation in postmenopausal women. Research suggests that estrogen may help to minimize cognitive decline in AD as well as postmenopausal olfactory loss. The current study examined the effects of estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) on performance of a recognition memory task for olfactory and visual stimuli in women AD patients. Participants included 24 women AD patients who were ERT users and 77 women AD patients who never used ERT. Compared with the ERT non-users, the ERT users committed significantly less false-positive memory errors for olfactory stimuli, whereas performance for visual stimuli did not differentiate between ERT users and non-users. The results suggest benefits of ERT could help ameliorate the earliest symptoms of AD, olfactory dysfunction, and memory impairment.

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Author information

Author/s: Sundermann, Erin (E); Gilbert, Paul E (PE); Murphy, Claire (C);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92120-4913, USA.

Grants: AG04085 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; P50 AG05131 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS (J Int Neuropsychol Soc), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-May; vol 12 (issue 3) : pp 400-4

Dates: Created 2006/08/14; Completed 2006/09/08; Revised 2007/11/14;

PMID: 16903132, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Alzheimer Disease - blood
Demography
Estrogens - blood; deficiency
Female
Humans

Associated Chemicals: Estrogens (0)

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