The influence of sex hormones on functional cerebral asymmetries in postmenopausal women.

Full Abstract

Studies investigating changes in functional cerebral asymmetries (FCAs) with hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle in young women have led to controversial hypotheses about an influence of estrogen (E) and/or progesterone (P) on FCAs. Based on methodical, but also on principal problems in deriving conclusions about hormone effects from correlational designs, the present study investigated hemispheric asymmetries in postmenopausal women, who received hormone replacement either with E alone (E group, n=32), an E-P combination (E-P group, n=29) or no hormone substitution (control group, n=31). Speed and accuracy of responses to a word- and a face decision task, both presented laterally by means of the visual half field technique, were assessed. The control group showed the typical pattern of hemispheric asymmetry with more correct responses to verbal stimuli presented in the right visual field (RVF) and to face stimuli presented in the left visual field (LVF). A hormone-effect was demonstrable only for the verbal task, in which the E group showed an enhanced performance of the right hemisphere (LVF). The E-P group showed no significant differences to the control group or the E group. The results suggest a role of E in the modulation of FCAs at least with regard to verbal processing.

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Author information

Author/s: Bayer, Ulrike (U); Erdmann, Gisela (G);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Durham University, United Kingdom.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Controlled Clinical Trial; Journal Article

Journal: Brain and cognition (Brain Cogn), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jul; vol 67 (issue 2) : pp 140-9

Dates: Created 2008/06/09; Completed 2008/08/22;

PMID: 18242811, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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.

Cerebral Cortex - drug effects; physiology
Climacteric - drug effects; physiology
Decision Making - drug effects
Dominance, Cerebral - drug effects; physiology
Drug Administration Schedule
Estrogen Replacement Therapy
Estrogens - physiology
Female
Humans

Humans
Mental Recall - drug effects
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Pattern Recognition, Visual - drug effects
Progesterone - physiology
Psychomotor Performance - drug effects
Reaction Time - drug effects
Semantics

Associated Chemicals: Estrogens (0) ; Progesterone (57-83-0)

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