Endogenous sex hormones and cognitive function in older women

Introduction: We examined the association between endogenous sex hormones and both objective and subjective measures of cognitive function.

Methods: We followed 3044 women up to 23 years in a prospective cohort study. We measured plasma levels of estrone, estrone sulfate, estradiol, androstenedione, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) in 1989-1990, conducted neuropsychologic testing in 1999-2008, and inquired about subjective cognition in 2012.

Results: Overall, we observed little relation between plasma levels of hormones and either neuropsychologic test performance or subjective cognition. However, after adjustment for age and education, we observed a borderline significant association of higher levels of plasma estrone with higher scores for both overall cognition (P trend = .10) and verbal memory (P trend = .08).

Discussion: There were no clear associations of endogenous hormone levels at midlife and cognition in later life, although a suggested finding of higher levels of plasma estrone associated with better cognitive function merits further research.