Janowsky Jeri S
Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University CR131, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
Trends Cogn Sci. 2006 Feb;10(2):77-82. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2005.12.010. Epub 2006 Jan 4.
Sex hormones play a crucial role during brain development, but do they modulate or maintain cognition throughout life? Despite several million prescriptions annually for testosterone supplementation, we do not really know the answer. Here I review recent evidence that testosterone alters neural activity essential for learning and memory, and plays an important role as a neuroprotective agent in aging. In particular, testosterone deprivation is associated with poor memory in men and replacement can enhance memory and spatial cognition. However, there is little evidence that testosterone selectively affects only those cognitive domains where sex differences in performance have been found. There are also gaps in our knowledge surrounding the individual cognitive processes altered by testosterone, their neural basis, and the degree to which testosterone affects cognitive performance in women.
性激素在大脑发育过程中起着至关重要的作用，但它们在人的一生中是调节还是维持认知能力呢？尽管每年有数百万人使用睾酮补充剂的处方，但我们实际上并不知道答案。在此，我回顾了近期的证据，即睾酮会改变学习和记忆所必需的神经活动，并在衰老过程中作为一种神经保护剂发挥重要作用。特别是，睾酮缺乏与男性记忆力差有关，而补充睾酮可以增强记忆力和空间认知能力。然而，几乎没有证据表明睾酮仅选择性地影响那些已发现存在性别差异表现的认知领域。在我们关于睾酮改变的个体认知过程、其神经基础以及睾酮对女性认知表现影响程度的知识方面也存在空白。
