rogen May
Sharpen
Fuzzy
Memory
Estrogen treatments
may sharpen mental
performance in women
with certain medical
conditions, but
University of
Florida researchers
suggest that
recharging a
naturally occurring
estrogen receptor in
the brain may also
clear cognitive
cobwebs.
The discovery
suggests that drugs
can be developed to
offset “senior
moments” related to
low estrogen levels,
as well as to
protect against
neurological
diseases, all while
avoiding the
problems associated
with adding estrogen
to the body.
Writing online in
Molecular Therapy in
July, scientists
with UF’s McKnight
Brain Institute
describe how they
improved thought
processes in female
mice bred with the
inability to produce
estrogen
receptor-alpha, a
protein apparently
necessary for
healthy learning and
memory.
“We were able to
restore function in
these animals, not
by dosing them with
estrogen, but by
enabling them to use
the estrogen that
was naturally
present in their
bodies,” said Tom
Foster, the Evelyn
F. McKnight chair
for brain research
in memory loss at
the UF College of
Medicine. “We
discovered that you
can affect the
estrogen receptor
directly in the
hippocampus, right
where it’s needed to
address memory and
spatial learning.”
Changes in the
estrogen receptor
have been associated
with age-related
memory deficits and
an increased
incidence of
Alzheimer’s disease
among women. In
addition, previous
studies have shown
estrogen replacement
may improve
cognition in
postmenopausal women
and younger women
with low estrogen
levels. Estrogen
also appears to
protect against
Alzheimer’s disease
and dementia.
The downside is
that estrogen is a
powerful hormone
that has
far-reaching effects
throughout the body.
It has been
associated with a
slight increase in
women’s risk for
breast cancer, heart
disease in patients
with existing
cardiovascular
problems, and
stroke.
“Estrogen may act
as a growth agent
for cancer, but in
the brain, it
appears to maintain
health and
counteract stress,”
Foster said. “We
wanted to come back
and enhance the
signaling pathway
that makes estrogen
functional. We used
a gene therapy
technique that
enables us to target
the brain, but
ultimately there
could be a
pharmaceutical that
enhances the
signaling pathway
solely in the
brain.”