Department of Psychology, P.O. Box 3050, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8W 3P5.
Brain Cogn. 2012 Oct;80(1):89-95. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2012.05.001. Epub 2012 May 28.
This study looked at cumulative lifetime estrogen exposure, as estimated with a mathematical index (Index of Cumulative Estrogen Exposure (ICEE)) that included variables (length of time on estrogen therapy, age at menarche and menopause, postmenopausal body mass index, time since menopause, nulliparity and duration of breastfeeding) known to influence estrogen levels across the life span, and performance on prospective and retrospective memory measures in a group of 50 postmenopausal women (mean age=69.3years) who, if they were current or former users of estrogen therapy, had started therapy within 5years of menopause. The ICEE was found to be a significant predictor of performance on the Prospective Memory task (F(1)=4.21, p=.046, η(p)(2)=.084). No significant relationship was noted between the ICEE and performance on measures of retrospective memory. The results suggest that the level of cumulative lifetime exposure to estrogen a woman has influences her prospective memory performance later in life and that the influence of reproductive and biological markers of endogenous estrogen exposure are relevant factors to consider when studying the effect of estrogen therapy on cognitive functioning in postmenopausal women. In addition, the finding that performance on a measure of prospective memory, but not performance on measures of retrospective memory, was associated with the ICEE adds further support to the theory that the frontal cortex may be especially sensitive to estrogen.
本研究着眼于累积终身雌激素暴露，通过一个数学指数（累积雌激素暴露指数（ICEE））来估计，该指数包含了已知会影响整个生命周期雌激素水平的变量（雌激素治疗的持续时间、初潮和绝经年龄、绝经后体重指数、绝经后时间、未育和母乳喂养持续时间），以及一组 50 名绝经后女性（平均年龄 69.3 岁）前瞻性和回溯性记忆测试的表现，如果她们是雌激素治疗的当前或既往使用者，那么她们在绝经后 5 年内开始接受治疗。研究发现，ICEE 是前瞻性记忆任务表现的一个显著预测因素（F(1)=4.21，p=.046，η(p)(2)=.084）。ICEE 与回溯性记忆测试的表现之间没有显著关系。研究结果表明，女性累积一生的雌激素暴露水平会影响其晚年的前瞻性记忆表现，而生殖和内源性雌激素暴露的生物学标志物的影响是研究雌激素治疗对绝经后妇女认知功能影响时需要考虑的相关因素。此外，前瞻性记忆测试的表现与 ICEE 相关，而回溯性记忆测试的表现则不相关，这进一步支持了前额叶皮质对雌激素特别敏感的理论。
