Sherwin B B
Department of Psychology & Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
J Neuroendocrinol. 2007 Feb;19(2):77-81. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2826.2006.01508.x.
Although there is compelling evidence from small randomised controlled trials and cross-sectional studies indicating that oestrogen helps to protect against cognitive ageing in women, the findings of the large, Women's Health Initiative Memory Study failed to support the earlier findings. The attempt to resolve these discrepancies led to the formulation of the Critical Period Hypothesis which holds that oestrogen has maximal protective benefits on cognition in women when it is initiated closely in time to a natural or surgical menopause but not when treatment is begun decades after the menopause. This article reviews the evidence from basic neuroendocrinology, from animal behavioural studies and from human studies that supports the critical period hypothesis. In view of the promise of this hypothesis and its considerable clinical implications, a direct test of its validity is warranted.
尽管小型随机对照试验和横断面研究提供了令人信服的证据，表明雌激素有助于预防女性认知衰老，但大型的女性健康倡议记忆研究结果却未能支持早期的研究发现。为解决这些差异所做的尝试导致了关键期假说的形成，该假说认为，雌激素在接近自然绝经或手术绝经时开始使用，对女性认知具有最大的保护作用，而在绝经数十年后开始治疗则不然。本文回顾了基础神经内分泌学、动物行为研究和人体研究中支持关键期假说的证据。鉴于这一假说的前景及其重大的临床意义，有必要对其有效性进行直接检验。
