Evidence mapPaperPMID 21078303Full record

Trial reportBrain research2011

Perimenopausal use of hormone therapy is associated with enhanced memory and hippocampal function later in life.

Pauline M Maki, Lorraine Dennerstein, Margaret Clark, Janet Guthrie, Pamela LaMontagne, Deanne Fornelli, Deborah Little, Victor W Henderson, Susan M Resnick

Abstract readComparative StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Brain research, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 63 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
63citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

63 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Evidence of APOE4-related brain vulnerabilities in verbal memory systems in midlife women.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
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3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Pauline M MakiDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. pmaki@psych.uic.edu
Lorraine Dennerstein
Margaret Clark
Janet Guthrie
Pamela LaMontagne
Deanne Fornelli
Deborah Little
Victor W Henderson
Susan M Resnick

Funding

ALZHEIMERS RESEARCH PROJECT: Neuroimaging Predictors of Alzheimer's Disease and Cognitive DeclineZIAAG000191 · NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING · 2025 to 2025
$26k
Intramural NIH HHS Z99 AG999999
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Evidence suggests that initiation of some forms of hormone therapy (HT) early in the perimenopausal or postmenopausal stage might confer benefit to verbal memory and the neural systems underlying memory, whereas late-life initiation confers no benefit or harm. This "critical window hypothesis" remains a topic of debate. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined the long-term impact of perimenopausal HT use on brain function during performance of verbal and figural memory tasks. Participants were 34 postmenopausal women (mean age 60 years) from the Melbourne Women's Midlife Health Project and included 17 early (perimenopausal) and continuous users of HT and 17 never users matched on age, education, and verbal knowledge. Continuous HT use from the perimenopausal stage versus no use was validated with prospective daily diary records and study visit data. The primary outcome was patterns of brain activation in an a priori region of interest in the medial temporal lobe during verbal encoding and recognition of words. Results indicated that perimenopausal HT users performed better than nonusers on the imaging verbal memory task (p<.05). During verbal recognition, perimenopausal HT users showed increased activation in the left hippocampus and decreased activation in the parahippocampal gyrus bilaterally compared with never users. Each of these patterns of activation was associated with better memory performance on the imaging memory task. These results suggest that perimenopausal use of HT might confer long-term benefits to verbal memory and the brain systems underlying verbal memory. More generally, the results support the critical window hypothesis.

Indexed as

AgedAge FactorsEstrogen Replacement TherapyFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHippocampusHormone Replacement TherapyHumansLongitudinal StudiesMagnetic Resonance ImagingMemoryMiddle AgedPerimenopauseProspective Studies

Identifiers

PMID21078303
PMCPMC3046212

What Socratic holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.