Estrogen therapy affects right hemispheric functioning in postmenopausal women

Bayer, U.; Hausmann, M.

Abstract

It has been suggested that hormone therapy (HT) in postmenopausal women differentially affects verbal and visuo-spatial abilities which mainly rely on left hemisphere (LH) and right hemisphere (RH) functioning, respectively. Thus, it seems likely that HT-related effects on cognition are driven by associated hormonal changes and their impact on functional brain organization, and functional cerebral asymmetries (FCAs) in particular. The present study investigated HT-related effects on FCAs in sixty-seven postmenopausal women who received hormone therapy either with estrogen (E) alone (n = 14), an E-gestagen combination (n = 22) or without HT (control group, n = 31). Saliva levels of free E and progesterone (P) were analyzed using chemiluminescence assays. FCAs were measured with the visual half-field (VHF) technique using a word matching and a figural comparison task. In agreement with previous results, a postmenopausal control group showed a left hemisphere (LH) advantage in the verbal task and a right hemisphere (RH) advantage in visuo-spatial processing. In contrast, both HT groups revealed significantly reduced FCAs in the figural comparison task as a result of an E-related decrease in RH performance. The findings suggest that E-therapy in postmenopausal women can affect visuo-spatial abilities by modulating the functional brain organization and RH functioning in particular.

Citation

Bayer, U., & Hausmann, M. (2009). Estrogen therapy affects right hemispheric functioning in postmenopausal women. Hormones and Behavior, 55(1), 228-234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2008.10.009

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2009
• Deposit Date: Sep 14, 2012
• Journal: Hormones and Behavior
• Print ISSN: 0018-506X
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 55
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 228-234
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2008.10.009
• Keywords: Hormone therapy, Estrogen, Progesterone, Postmenopausal women, Hemispheric differences, Aging.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1531130