Estrogen-mediated effects on depression and memory formation in females

Abstract

Women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men. It has been proposed that the ovarian hormones estrogen and progesterone contribute to the higher incidence of this potentially debilitating disorder. Depression can also be accompanied by a loss of cognitive performance. Here we review estrogen-mediated effects on depression and memory formation in females. We propose that changes in levels of estrogen are associated with sex differences in learning as well as changes in affect prior to menses, immediately after pregnancy and during perimenopause and the menopausal transition. Finally, we discuss the animal model of depression known as 'learned helplessness' and describe research from our laboratory demonstrating that exposure to an acute stressful experience compromises a female's later ability to acquire certain types of new memories. This response to stressful experience is opposite to that observed in males and is dependent on the presence of estrogen, and more specifically-changing levels of estrogen. This observation indicates that females and males can use different hormonal and neural mechanisms to respond to the same emotional event and underscore the importance of studying the unique and changing biology of females, especially when considering treatment strategies for depression and stress-related illness.

Role of Prefrontal Cortex Dopamine and Noradrenaline Circuitry in Addiction

“…This gender variation may render females able to better perform cognitive tasks because of the more elevated dopamine function in the PFC whereas they perform worse under even minor stress. On the other hand there is also substantial evidence that males perform better or no worse if slightly stressed (Shors and Miesegaes, 2002;Shors and Leuner, 2003;Shansky et al, 2004). This observation fits well with the above reported characteristics of the PFC dopamine function being highly sensitive to stress (Thierry et al, 1972;Reinhard et al, 1982;Roth et al, 1988;Deutch and Roth, 1990;Arnsten and Goldman-Rakic 1998;Arnsten, 1999 and.…”

Males and females respond differently to controllability and antidepressant treatment

“…Their depression is often accompanied by problems with declarative learning and memory, which is responsive to antidepressant treatment (Austin et al 2001;Levkovitz et al 2002;Vythilingam et al 2004). Since trace conditioning is considered a declarative memory task (Clark and Squire 1998), our results may reflect aspects of these learning deficits in humans (Kendler 1998;Shors and Leuner 2003). Minimally, they indicate major sex differences in the response to uncontrollable stress and in response to antidepressants.…”

The Effects of Puerariae Flos on Stress-induced Deficits of Learning and Memory in Ovariectomized Female Rats

“…Women have a higher incidence of some stress-related disorders, such as depression, while men are generally at a greater risk for cardiovascular diseases, such as myocardial infraction and hypertension, than age-matched, premenopausal women (Reckelhoff, 2001). The higher incidence and severity of depression are associated with the presence or absence of ovarian hormones (Shors et al, 2003).…”