Stevens Michael C, Clark Vincent P, Prestwood Karen M
Clinical Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center, Whitehall Building, The Institute of Living/Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT 06106, USA.
Psychiatry Res. 2005 Aug 30;139(3):199-217. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2005.04.004.
Although several studies have examined the effects of estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) on neural activity associated with tasks of learning and memory, no study has examined such effects on a sustained attention task. This study examined the effect of low-dose estrogen replacement therapy on hemodynamic activity elicited by a visual three-stimulus oddball task recorded using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants included 16 women between the ages of 73 and 84 who were part of a randomized controlled double-blind study to evaluate the effect of an ultralow dose micronized estradiol on bone. No significant differences in behavioral performance were found with ERT. However, there was evidence that ERT group participants had both reductions and increases in the amplitude of hemodynamic response in a variety of subcortical and cortical brain regions. These included regions involved in perception and attention such as the occipital and parietal lobes, motor cortex, anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex. These findings suggest that estrogen may facilitate the efficiency of brain function during the performance of sustained attention tasks in post-menopausal elderly women.
尽管有多项研究探讨了雌激素替代疗法（ERT）对与学习和记忆任务相关的神经活动的影响，但尚无研究考察其对持续注意力任务的影响。本研究使用事件相关功能磁共振成像（fMRI）记录视觉三刺激oddball任务诱发的血流动力学活动，考察低剂量雌激素替代疗法的作用。研究对象包括16名年龄在73至84岁之间的女性，她们参与了一项随机对照双盲研究，以评估超低剂量微粉化雌二醇对骨骼的影响。ERT组在行为表现上未发现显著差异。然而，有证据表明，ERT组参与者在各种皮质下和皮质脑区的血流动力学反应幅度既有降低也有增加。这些脑区包括参与感知和注意力的区域，如枕叶和顶叶、运动皮层、前扣带回和前额叶皮层。这些发现表明，雌激素可能有助于绝经后老年女性在执行持续注意力任务时提高脑功能效率。
