ESTROGEN EFFECTS ON CHOLINERGIC FUNCTION IN OLDER WOMEN

University Of Vermont & St Agric College, Burlington VT

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Abstract

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Studies have suggested that changes that occur in mental abilities as we age may be a result of chemical changes that occur in the brain. The loss of estrogen that occurs after menopause in women may accelerate this change. This study is designed to test whether giving the hormone estrogen will affect the system of the brain that uses acetylcholine. Acetylcholine is a naturally occurring chemical in the brain that has been shown to be associated with attention and memory. We will see if we can detect this change using cognitive testing, MRI of brain structure, and a test called functional MRI (or fMRI which is a brain scan described below). The primary goal of these studies is to combine clinical, cognitive and neuroimaging methodologies to continue our investigations of how estrogen and related compounds influence the cognitive functions of the cholinergic systems of the human brain. We will move beyond our original investigations to begin to develop an understanding of the biological, clinical, and cognitive relationships between positive or negative effects of estrogen on cholinergic-related cognitive functioning in older women. There is evidence that the postmenopausal estrogen treatment may slow or prevent cognitive decline, enhance cognitive functioning, and may lower the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) if administered in the early postmenopausal period. However, large prospective studies such as the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) have suggested that under certain circumstances, hormone therapy may actually increase the risk for cognitive dysfunction. In the first five year period of this grant, we have consistently shown that benefits of estrogen treatment on cognitive functioning may be mediated through interactions with CNS cholinergic systems by specifically enhancing cholinergic-sensitive cognitive operations including attention, psychomotor speed, and episodic memory. This proposal proceeds to the next logical steps to more fully understand the nature of the estrogen-cholinergic interactions and utilize new approaches (e.g. neuroimaging) to develop a better grasp of the relationships between individual biological and cognitive characteristics and the responsiveness of the CNS cholinergic system to E2 stimulation. The first study will examine the relationship between the effects of estrogen on cholinergic system-related cognitive performance and individual characteristics of postmenopausal women that may bear a relationship on whether estrogen has cognitively enhancing effects. This study will involve our model of short-term estrogen treatment and cholinergic antagonist challenge in normal postmenopausal women successfully utilized in our prior studies. We will examine the influence of subjective and objective baseline cognitive symptomatology, structural brain imaging, and genetic markers on the relationship between the ability of estrogen to enhance cholinergic-related cognitive function. In the second study, we will examine the relationship between age and potential benefit to cholinergic-related cognitive performance. We will explicitly examine this version of the "critical period hypothesis" by utilizing our established estrogen-cholinergic challenge model and examining for age-related differences in brain activity with fMRI that are associated with cognitive differences in estrogen-cholinergic responsivity. This continued work will have important implications for understanding of the effects of hormonal loss on brain function and the potential benefits versus risks of postmenopausal hormone therapy on cognition and behavior. This study involves administering estrogen and then giving medications that temporarily affect the ability to perform certain mental and performance tests. In study #1 we will examine performance through cognitive assessments and in study #2, we will examine brain activation. In this way, we hope to see if estrogen administration changes the negative effects of these medications and therefore may act to alter the effects of aging on brain functioning. Study #1 will last approximately 4-5 months and 50 volunteers will be enrolled. Study #2 will last approximately 10 months and 60 volunteers will be enrolled.