Herrera Alexandra Ycaza, Hodis Howard N, Mack Wendy J, Mather Mara
Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2017 Dec 1;102(12):4457-4466. doi: 10.1210/jc.2017-00825.
Postmenopausal estradiol therapy (ET) can reduce the stress response. However, it remains unclear whether such reductions can mitigate effects of stress on cognition.
Investigate effects of ET on cortisol response to a physical stressor, cold pressor test (CPT), and whether ET attenuates stress effects on working memory.
Women completed the CPT or control condition across two sessions and subsequently completed a sentence span task.
General community: Participants were recruited from the Early vs Late Intervention Trial with Estradiol (ELITE).
ELITE participants (mean age = 66, standard deviation age = 6.8) in this study did not suffer from any major chronic illness or use medications known to affect the stress response or cognition.
Participants had received a median of randomized 4.7 years of estradiol (n = 21) or placebo (n = 21) treatment at time of participation in this study.
Salivary cortisol and sentence span task performance.
Women assigned to estradiol exhibited blunted cortisol responses to CPT compared with placebo (P = 0.017) and lesser negative effects of stress on working memory (P = 0.048).
We present evidence suggesting ET may protect certain types of cognition in the presence of stress. Such estrogenic protection against stress hormone exposure may prove beneficial to both cognition and the neural circuitry that maintains and propagates cognitive faculties.
绝经后雌二醇治疗（ET）可减轻应激反应。然而，目前尚不清楚这种减轻是否能缓解应激对认知的影响。
研究ET对冷加压试验（CPT）这一身体应激源的皮质醇反应的影响，以及ET是否能减轻应激对工作记忆的影响。
女性在两个阶段完成CPT或对照条件，随后完成句子跨度任务。
普通社区：参与者从雌二醇早期与晚期干预试验（ELITE）中招募。
本研究中的ELITE参与者（平均年龄 = 66岁，年龄标准差 = 6.⑧岁）未患有任何重大慢性病，也未使用已知会影响应激反应或认知的药物。
在参与本研究时，参与者接受雌二醇治疗（n = 21）或安慰剂治疗（n = 21）的随机中位数为4.7年。
唾液皮质醇和句子跨度任务表现。
与安慰剂组相比，接受雌二醇治疗的女性对CPT的皮质醇反应减弱（P = 0.017），且应激对工作记忆的负面影响较小（P = 0.048）。
我们提供的证据表明，ET可能在应激状态下保护某些类型的认知。这种针对应激激素暴露的雌激素保护作用可能对认知以及维持和传播认知能力的神经回路都有益处。
