Early Reproductive Experiences in Females Make Differences in Cognitive Function Later in Life

Li, Rena; Cui, Jie; Jothishankar, Balaji; Shen, Juliet; He, Ping; Shen, Yong

doi:10.3233/jad-122101

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…For example, recent animal studies showed that endogenous sex hormone levels changed by reproductive experience in females are associated with enhanced hippocampus-dependent memory [95], supporting the theory that parity may result in a higher level of exposure to estrogens, and as a consequence, changes the way the brain responds to estrogens in later life [50; 96]. …”

Section: Sex Differences In Cognitionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Sex differences in cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease

Singh

2014

Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology

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429

286

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Studies have shown differences in specific cognitive ability domains and risk of Alzheimer’s disease between the men and women at later age. However it is important to know that sex differences in cognitive function during adulthood may have their basis in both organizational effects, i.e., occurring as early as during the neuronal development period, as well as in activational effects, where the influence of the sex steroids influence brain function in adulthood. Further, the rate of cognitive decline with aging is also different between the sexes. Understanding the biology of sex differences in cognitive function will not only provide insight into Alzheimer’s disease prevention, but also is integral to the development of personalized, gender-specific medicine. This review draws on epidemiological, translational, clinical, and basic science studies to assess the impact of sex differences in cognitive function from young to old, and examines the effects of sex hormone treatments on Alzheimer’s disease in men and women.

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Section: Sex Differences In Cognitionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Sex differences in cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease

Singh

2014

Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology

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429

286

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“…For example, the emerging data indicate that the normal reproductive experience or motherhood can mitigate AAMI (Gatewood et al 2005) and alter the cellular response to estrogens in older hippocampi in rats (Barha and Galea 2011). These results suggest that the normal reproduction experience has a long-lasting and extensive influence on the AAMI in female rodents (Li et al 2013). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These data imply a long-term, significant impact of adverse pregnancy on behaviors in mothers. Given normal reproduction experience and the adverse gestational conditions mentioned above can chronically affect cognitive functioning or other behaviors (Li et al 2013;Mielke et al 2016;Darnaudéry et al 2004), so it is plausible to hypothesize that gestational inflammation can impact the AAMI and corresponding neural substrates in the mother-self during aging.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inflammatory insult during pregnancy accelerates age-related behavioral and neurobiochemical changes in CD-1 mice

Wang

Chen

et al. 2016

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Data shows that inflammation during pregnancy significantly exerts a long-term influence on offspring, such as increasing the risk of adult cognition decline in animals. However, it is unclear whether gestational inflammation affects the neurobehavioral and neurobiochemical outcomes in the motherself during aging. In this study, pregnant CD-1 mice intraperitoneally received lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in two doses (25 and 50 g/kg, respectively) or normal saline daily during gestational days 15-17. At the age of 15 months, a battery of behavioral tasks was employed to evaluate their species-typical behaviors, sensorimotor ability, anxiety levels, and spatial learning and memory abilities. An immunohistochemical method was utilized preliminarily to detect neurobiochemical indicators consisting of amyloid-β, p h o s p h o r y l a t e d t a u , p r e s y n a p t i c p r o t e i n s synaptotagmin-1 and syntaxin-1, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and histone-4 acetylation on the K8 site (H4K8ac). The behavioral results showed that LPS exposure during pregnancy exacerbated a decline in 15-month-old CD-1 mice's abilities to nest, their sensorimotor and spatial learning and memory capabilities, and increased their anxiety levels. The neurobiochemical results indicated that gestational LPS exposure also intensified age-related hippocampal changes, including increased amyloid-β 42 , phosphorylated tau, synaptotagmin-1 and GFAP, and decreased syntaxin-1 and H4K8ac. Our results suggested that the inflammatory insult during pregnancy could be an important risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease, and the H4K8 acetylation might play an important role in the underlying mechanism. This study offers a perspective for improving strategies that support healthy development and successful aging.

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“…Recent animal studies showed that endogenous estrogen levels changed by reproductive experience in females are associated with enhanced hippocampus-dependent memory [107; 108]. Furthermore, sex steroids have been linked to many of the mechanisms thought to be associated with cognitive decline and several types of dementia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain sex matters: Estrogen in cognition and Alzheimer’s disease

Cui

Shen

2014

Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology

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117

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Estrogens are the primary female sex hormones and play important roles in both reproductive and non-reproductive systems. Estrogens can be synthesized in non-reproductive tissues such as liver, heart, muscle, bone and the brain. During the past decade, increasing evidence suggests that brain estrogen can not only be synthesized by neurons, but also by astrocytes. Brain estrogen also works locally at the site of synthesis in paracrine and/or intracrine fashion to maintain important tissue-specific functions. Here, we will focus on the biology of brain estrogen and its impact on cognitive function and Alzheimer’s disease. This comprehensive review provides new insights into brain estrogens by presenting a better understanding of the tissue-specific estrogen effects and their roles in healthy ageing and cognitive function.

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Early Reproductive Experiences in Females Make Differences in Cognitive Function Later in Life

Cited by 14 publications

References 64 publications

Sex differences in cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease

Sex differences in cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease

Inflammatory insult during pregnancy accelerates age-related behavioral and neurobiochemical changes in CD-1 mice

Brain sex matters: Estrogen in cognition and Alzheimer’s disease

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