Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35212023›Full record

ArticleHuman psychopharmacology2022

Estradiol treatment in young postmenopausal women with self-reported cognitive complaints: Effects on cholinergic-mediated cognitive performance.

Alexander C Conley, Kimberly M Albert, Brenna C McDonald, Andrew J Saykin, Julie A Dumas, Paul A Newhouse

Open access · greenAbstract readControlled Clinical Trial
In one paragraph

Article in Human psychopharmacology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 30% of its field
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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Sex differences in neuromodulatory subcortical systems and their implications for Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
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

6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Alexander C ConleyDepartment of Psychiatry, Center for Cognitive Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1159-5524
Kimberly M AlbertDepartment of Psychiatry, Center for Cognitive Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Brenna C McDonaldDepartment of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Center for Neuroimaging, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
Andrew J SaykinDepartment of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Center for Neuroimaging, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
Julie A DumasDepartment of Psychiatry, Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
Paul A NewhouseDepartment of Psychiatry, Center for Cognitive Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Indiana University School of MedicineVanderbilt University Medical Center · USUniversity of Vermont · USValley Health System · US

Funding

The Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR)UL1TR000445 · NCATS · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI BERNARD, GORDON RAPHAEL · 2012 to 2016
$41.4M
Research Education ComponentP30AG010133 · NIA · INDIANA UNIV-PURDUE UNIV AT INDIANAPOLIS · PI SAYKIN, ANDREW J · 1991 to 2020
$37.3M
Research Education ComponentP30AG072976 · NIA · INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS · PI ANDREW J SAYKIN · 2021 to 2026
$24.1M
Memory Circuitry in MCI and Early Alzheimer’s Disease Prodrome: Molecular DriversR01AG019771 · NIA · INDIANA UNIV-PURDUE UNIV AT INDIANAPOLIS · PI SAYKIN, ANDREW J · 2001 to 2021
$6.9M
Estrogen Effects on Cholinergic Function in Older WomenR01AG021476 · NIA · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY · PI NEWHOUSE, PAUL A. · 2003 to 2013
$4.2M
Replacement and Upgrade of a 3T MR Scanner for ResearchS10OD021771 · OD · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI GORE, JOHN C · 2016 to 2016
$2.0M
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR000445NIA NIH HHS P30 AG010133NIA NIH HHS P30 AG072976NIA NIH HHS R01 AG019771NIA NIH HHS R01 AG021476NIH HHS S10 OD021771
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveOlder women are at increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease compared to men. One proposed reason is that following menopause there is a decline in estrogens. Estrogens are important for cholinergic functioning and attenuate the impact of cholinergic antagonists on cognitive performance in postmenopausal women. Self-reported or subjective cognitive complaints in middle or older age may represent a harbinger of cognitive decline and those who endorse cognitive complaints appear more likely to develop future cognitive impairment. However, the response of individuals with cognitive complaints after menopause to estrogen and the relationship to cholinergic functioning has not been investigated. This study investigated the effect of estrogen treatment using 17β-estradiol on cognitive performance following anticholinergic blockade in postmenopausal women and the relationship of this interaction with the level of self-reported (subjective) postmenopausal cognitive complaints.

methodsForty postmenopausal women (aged 50-60 years) completed a 3-month treatment regimen of either 1 mg oral estradiol or placebo. Participants then completed four challenge days in which they completed cognitive and behavioral tasks after one of four cholinergic antagonist drug conditions (oral mecamylamine (MECA), intravenous scopolamine, combined MECA and scopolamine, or PLC).

resultsCompared to PLC, the estradiol treated group performed worse on attention tasks under cholinergic challenge including the choice reaction time task and the critical flicker fusion task. In addition, participants who endorsed greater cognitive complaints showed reduced performance on the N-back working memory task, regardless of whether they received estradiol treatment.

conclusionsThe findings of this study indicate that estradiol treatment was unable to mitigate anticholinergic blockade in postmenopausal women with subjective cognitive complaints, and worsened performance on attention tasks. Moreover, the present study suggests that greater levels of cognitive complaints following menopause may be associated with an underlying decline in cholinergic function that may manifest as an inability to compensate during working memory tasks.

Indexed as

EstradiolPostmenopauseAgedCholinergic AgentsCholinergic AntagonistsCognitionEstrogensFemaleHumansScopolamineSelf ReportCholinergic AgentsCholinergic AntagonistsEstradiolEstrogensScopolaminecholinergic systemcognitive complaintsestrogenmecamylaminemenopausescopolamineworking memory

Identifiers

PMID35212023
PMCPMC9399322
OpenAlexW4214499278

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
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.