Department of Psychology, Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
Department of Psychology & Neuroscience Program, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada.
Mol Brain. 2019 Mar 18;12(1):22. doi: 10.1186/s13041-019-0442-7.
It is well established that estrogens affect neuroplasticity in a number of brain regions. In particular, estrogens modulate and mediate spine and synapse formation as well as neurogenesis in the hippocampal formation. In this review, we discuss current research exploring the effects of estrogens on dendritic spine plasticity and neurogenesis with a focus on the modulating factors of sex, age, and pregnancy. Hormone levels, including those of estrogens, fluctuate widely across the lifespan from early life to puberty, through adulthood and into old age, as well as with pregnancy and parturition. Dendritic spine formation and modulation are altered both by rapid (likely non-genomic) and classical (genomic) actions of estrogens and have been suggested to play a role in the effects of estrogens on learning and memory. Neurogenesis in the hippocampus is influenced by age, the estrous cycle, pregnancy, and parity in female rodents. Furthermore, sex differences exist in hippocampal cellular and molecular responses to estrogens and are briefly discussed throughout. Understanding how structural plasticity in the hippocampus is affected by estrogens and how these effects can influence function and be influenced by other factors, such as experience and sex, is critical and can inform future treatments in conditions involving the hippocampus.
已经证实，雌激素会影响许多脑区的神经可塑性。特别是，雌激素会调节和介导海马结构中的脊柱和突触形成以及神经发生。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了目前探索雌激素对树突棘可塑性和神经发生影响的研究，重点讨论了性别、年龄和妊娠的调节因素。激素水平，包括雌激素水平，在整个生命周期中都会有很大的波动，从生命早期到青春期，到成年期，再到老年期，以及怀孕和分娩期。雌激素的快速（可能是非基因组）和经典（基因组）作用都会改变树突棘的形成和调节，并被认为在雌激素对学习和记忆的影响中发挥作用。在雌性啮齿动物中，海马体中的神经发生受年龄、动情周期、怀孕和产仔数的影响。此外，海马体对雌激素的细胞和分子反应存在性别差异，在整篇文章中都进行了简要讨论。了解海马体中的结构可塑性如何受到雌激素的影响，以及这些影响如何影响功能，并受到其他因素的影响，如经验和性别，是至关重要的，可以为涉及海马体的疾病提供未来的治疗方法。
