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Schaeuble D, Wallace T, Pace SA, Hentges ST, Myers B. Sex-specific prefrontal-hypothalamic control of behavior and stress responding. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2024; 159:106413. [PMID: 37890240 PMCID: PMC10842088 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Revised: 09/30/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023]
Abstract
Depression and cardiovascular disease are both augmented by daily life stress. Yet, the biological mechanisms that translate psychological stress into affective and physiological outcomes are unknown. Previously, we demonstrated that stimulation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) has sexually divergent outcomes on behavior and physiology. Importantly, the vmPFC does not innervate the brain regions that initiate autonomic or neuroendocrine stress responses; thus, we hypothesized that intermediate synapses integrate cortical information to regulate stress responding. The posterior hypothalamus (PH) directly innervates stress-effector regions and receives substantial innervation from the vmPFC. In the current studies, circuit-specific approaches examined whether vmPFC synapses in the PH coordinate stress responding. Here we tested the effects of optogenetic vmPFC-PH circuit stimulation in male and female rats on social and motivational behaviors as well as physiological stress responses. Additionally, an intersectional genetic approach was used to knock down synaptobrevin in PH-projecting vmPFC neurons. Our collective results indicate that male vmPFC-PH circuitry promotes positive motivational valence and is both sufficient and necessary to reduce sympathetic-mediated stress responses. In females, the vmPFC-PH circuit does not affect social or preference behaviors but is sufficient and necessary to elevate neuroendocrine stress responses. Altogether, these data suggest cortical regulation of stress reactivity and behavior is mediated, in part, by projections to the hypothalamus that function in a sex-specific manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Derek Schaeuble
- Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - Tyler Wallace
- Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - Sebastian A Pace
- Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - Shane T Hentges
- Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
| | - Brent Myers
- Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
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2
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Wood CP, Avalos B, Alvarez C, DiPatrizio NV. A Sexually Dimorphic Role for Intestinal Cannabinoid Receptor Subtype-1 in the Behavioral Expression of Anxiety. Cannabis Cannabinoid Res 2023; 8:1045-1059. [PMID: 37862126 PMCID: PMC10771877 DOI: 10.1089/can.2023.0150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Increasing evidence suggests that the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in the brain controls anxiety and may be a therapeutic target for the treatment of anxiety disorders. For example, both pharmacological and genetic disruption of cannabinoid receptor subtype-1 (CB1R) signaling in the central nervous system is associated with increased anxiety-like behaviors in rodents, while activating the system is anxiolytic. Sex is also a critical factor that controls the behavioral expression of anxiety; however, roles for the ECS in the gut in these processes and possible differences between sexes are largely unknown. Objective: In this study, we aimed to determine if CB1Rs in the intestinal epithelium exert control over anxiety-like behaviors in a sex-dependent manner. Methods: We subjected male and female mice with conditional deletion of CB1Rs in the intestinal epithelium (intCB1-/-) and controls (intCB1+/+) to the elevated plus maze (EPM), light/dark box, and open field test. Corticosterone (CORT) levels in plasma were measured at baseline and immediately after EPM exposure. Results: When compared with intCB1+/+ male mice, intCB1-/- male mice exhibited reduced levels of anxiety-like behaviors in the EPM and light/dark box. In contrast to male mice, no differences were found between female intCB1+/+ and intCB1-/- mice. Circulating CORT was higher in female versus male mice for both genotype groups at baseline and after EPM exposure; however, there was no effect of genotype on CORT levels. Conclusions: Collectively, these results indicate that genetic deletion of CB1Rs in the intestinal epithelium is associated with an anxiolytic phenotype in a sex-dependent manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Courtney P. Wood
- Division of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Bryant Avalos
- Division of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Camila Alvarez
- Division of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, USA
| | - Nicholas V. DiPatrizio
- Division of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, California, USA
- University of California Riverside Center for Cannabinoid Research, Riverside, California, USA
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3
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Brouillard A, Davignon LM, Turcotte AM, Marin MF. Morphologic alterations of the fear circuitry: the role of sex hormones and oral contraceptives. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2023; 14:1228504. [PMID: 38027091 PMCID: PMC10661904 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1228504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Endogenous sex hormones and oral contraceptives (OCs) have been shown to influence key regions implicated in fear processing. While OC use has been found to impact brain morphology, methodological challenges remain to be addressed, such as avoiding selection bias between OC users and non-users, as well as examining potential lasting effects of OC intake. Objective We investigated the current and lasting effects of OC use, as well as the interplay between the current hormonal milieu and history of hormonal contraception use on structural correlates of the fear circuitry. We also examined the role of endogenous and exogenous sex hormones within this network. Methods We recruited healthy adults aged 23-35 who identified as women currently using (n = 62) or having used (n = 37) solely combined OCs, women who never used any hormonal contraceptives (n = 40), or men (n = 41). Salivary endogenous sex hormones and current users' salivary ethinyl estradiol (EE) were assessed using liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry. Using structural magnetic resonance imaging, we extracted surface-based gray matter volumes (GMVs) and cortical thickness (CT) for regions of interest of the fear circuitry. Exploratory whole-brain analyses were conducted with surface-based and voxel-based morphometry methods. Results Compared to men, all three groups of women exhibited a larger GMV of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, while only current users showed a thinner ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Irrespective of the menstrual cycle phase, never users exhibited a thicker right anterior insular cortex than past users. While associations with endogenous sex hormones remain unclear, we showed that EE dosage in current users had a greater influence on brain anatomy compared to salivary EE levels and progestin androgenicity, with lower doses being associated with smaller cortical GMVs. Discussion Our results highlight a sex difference for the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex GMV (a fear-promoting region), as well as a reduced CT of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (a fear-inhibiting region) specific to current OC use. Precisely, this finding was driven by lower EE doses. These findings may represent structural vulnerabilities to anxiety and stress-related disorders. We showed little evidence of durable anatomical effects, suggesting that OC intake can (reversibly) affect fear-related brain morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra Brouillard
- Research Center of the Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Quebec in Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Lisa-Marie Davignon
- Research Center of the Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Quebec in Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | | | - Marie-France Marin
- Research Center of the Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Quebec in Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
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4
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Schaeuble D, Wallace T, Pace SA, Hentges ST, Myers B. Sex-specific prefrontal-hypothalamic control of behavior and stress responding. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.07.09.548297. [PMID: 37502938 PMCID: PMC10369879 DOI: 10.1101/2023.07.09.548297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Depression and cardiovascular disease are both augmented by daily life stress. Yet, the biological mechanisms that translate psychological stress into affective and physiological outcomes are unknown. Previously, we demonstrated that stimulation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) has sexually divergent outcomes on behavior and physiology. Importantly, the vmPFC does not innervate the brain regions that initiate autonomic or neuroendocrine stress responses; thus, we hypothesized that intermediate synapses integrate cortical information to regulate stress responding. The posterior hypothalamus (PH) directly innervates stress-effector regions and receives substantial innervation from the vmPFC. In the current studies, circuit-specific approaches examined whether vmPFC synapses in the PH coordinate stress responding. Here we tested the effects of optogenetic vmPFC-PH circuit stimulation in male and female rats on social and motivational behaviors as well as physiological stress responses. Additionally, an intersectional genetic approach was used to knock down synaptobrevin in PH-projecting vmPFC neurons. Our collective results indicate that male vmPFC-PH circuitry promotes positive motivational valence and is both sufficient and necessary to reduce sympathetic-mediated stress responses. In females, the vmPFC-PH circuit does not affect social or preference behaviors but is sufficient and necessary to elevate neuroendocrine stress responses. Altogether, these data suggest cortical regulation of stress reactivity and behavior is mediated, in part, by projections to the hypothalamus that function in a sex-specific manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Derek Schaeuble
- Equal contribution
- Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO,
USA
| | - Tyler Wallace
- Equal contribution
- Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO,
USA
| | - Sebastian A. Pace
- Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO,
USA
| | - Shane T. Hentges
- Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience, Washington State
University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Brent Myers
- Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO,
USA
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5
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Teal LB, Ingram SM, Bubser M, McClure E, Jones CK. The Evolving Role of Animal Models in the Discovery and Development of Novel Treatments for Psychiatric Disorders. ADVANCES IN NEUROBIOLOGY 2023; 30:37-99. [PMID: 36928846 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-21054-9_3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/18/2023]
Abstract
Historically, animal models have been routinely used in the characterization of novel chemical entities (NCEs) for various psychiatric disorders. Animal models have been essential in the in vivo validation of novel drug targets, establishment of lead compound pharmacokinetic to pharmacodynamic relationships, optimization of lead compounds through preclinical candidate selection, and development of translational measures of target occupancy and functional target engagement. Yet, with decades of multiple NCE failures in Phase II and III efficacy trials for different psychiatric disorders, the utility and value of animal models in the drug discovery process have come under intense scrutiny along with the widespread withdrawal of the pharmaceutical industry from psychiatric drug discovery. More recently, the development and utilization of animal models for the discovery of psychiatric NCEs has undergone a dynamic evolution with the application of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework for better design of preclinical to clinical translational studies combined with innovative genetic, neural circuitry-based, and automated testing technologies. In this chapter, the authors will discuss this evolving role of animal models for improving the different stages of the discovery and development in the identification of next generation treatments for psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura B Teal
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Shalonda M Ingram
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Michael Bubser
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Elliott McClure
- College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Lipscomb University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Carrie K Jones
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
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6
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Berridge CW, Martin AJ, Hupalo S, Nicol SE. Estrus cycle-dependent working memory effects of prefrontal cortex corticotropin-releasing factor neurotransmission. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 47:2016-2023. [PMID: 35618840 PMCID: PMC9556710 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-022-01349-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2022] [Revised: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) supports a diversity of cognitive processes. Impairment in PFC-dependent cognition is associated with multiple psychiatric disorders, including those known to display sex differences. Our ability to treat this impairment is limited, in part due to an incomplete understanding of the neural mechanisms that support PFC-dependent cognition. In previous studies in male rats, we demonstrated that corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) receptors and neurons in caudal dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC) regulate PFC-dependent working memory. Subcortically, CRF can exert sex-specific actions, a subset of which are ovarian steroid dependent. To date, the cognitive actions of dmPFC CRF neurotransmission in females are unknown. To address this gap, the current studies examined the effects of chemogenetic and pharmacological manipulations of CRF receptors and neurons within the dmPFC of female rats tested in a spatial working memory task. Outside of proestrus, activation of both CRF receptors and neurons in the caudal, but not rostral, dmPFC impaired working memory. Meanwhile, blockade of CRF receptors in the caudal dmPFC or globally in the brain, improved working memory performance, similar to that seen in males. In contrast, these effects were not observed during proestrus. These observations demonstrate that while CRF neurotransmission in the PFC regulates working memory similarly in males and females, these actions are not observed in females when ovarian steroids are at peak levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Craig W Berridge
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
| | - Andrea J Martin
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Sofiya Hupalo
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
- Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Shannon E Nicol
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
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7
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Fronto-parietal alpha ERD and visuo-spatial attention in pregnant women. Brain Res 2022; 1798:148130. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2022.148130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Revised: 09/27/2022] [Accepted: 10/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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8
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Wallace T, Myers B. Effects of Biological Sex and Stress Exposure on Ventromedial Prefrontal Regulation of Mood-Related Behaviors. Front Behav Neurosci 2021; 15:737960. [PMID: 34512290 PMCID: PMC8426926 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.737960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The ventral portion of the medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) regulates mood, sociability, and context-dependent behaviors. Consequently, altered vmPFC activity has been implicated in the biological basis of emotional disorders. Recent methodological advances have greatly enhanced the ability to investigate how specific prefrontal cell populations regulate mood-related behaviors, as well as the impact of long-term stress on vmPFC function. However, emerging preclinical data identify prominent sexual divergence in vmPFC behavioral regulation and stress responsivity. Notably, the rodent infralimbic cortex (IL), a vmPFC subregion critical for anti-depressant action, shows marked functional divergence between males and females. Accordingly, this review examines IL encoding and modulation of mood-related behaviors, including coping style, reward, and sociability, with a focus on sex-based outcomes. We also review how these processes are impacted by prolonged stress exposure. Collectively, the data suggest that chronic stress has sex-specific effects on IL excitatory/inhibitory balance that may account for sex differences in the prevalence and course of mood disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyler Wallace
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
| | - Brent Myers
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
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9
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Wallace T, Schaeuble D, Pace SA, Schackmuth MK, Hentges ST, Chicco AJ, Myers B. Sexually divergent cortical control of affective-autonomic integration. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2021; 129:105238. [PMID: 33930756 PMCID: PMC8217303 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2020] [Revised: 03/23/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Depression and cardiovascular disease reduce quality of life and increase mortality risk. These conditions commonly co-occur with sex-based differences in incidence and severity. However, the biological mechanisms linking the disorders are poorly understood. In the current study, we hypothesized that the infralimbic (IL) prefrontal cortex integrates mood-related behaviors with the cardiovascular burden of chronic stress. In a rodent model, we utilized optogenetics during behavior and in vivo physiological monitoring to examine how the IL regulates affect, social motivation, neuroendocrine-autonomic stress reactivity, and the cardiac consequences of chronic stress. Our results indicate that IL glutamate neurons increase socio-motivational behaviors specifically in males. IL activation also reduced endocrine and cardiovascular stress responses in males, while increasing reactivity in females. Moreover, prior IL stimulation protected males from subsequent chronic stress-induced sympatho-vagal imbalance and cardiac hypertrophy. Our findings suggest that cortical regulation of behavior, physiological stress responses, and cardiovascular outcomes fundamentally differ between sexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyler Wallace
- Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
| | - Derek Schaeuble
- Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
| | - Sebastian A Pace
- Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
| | - Morgan K Schackmuth
- Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
| | - Shane T Hentges
- Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
| | - Adam J Chicco
- Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
| | - Brent Myers
- Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States.
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10
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Wei SM, Baller EB, Martinez PE, Goff AC, Li HJ, Kohn PD, Kippenhan JS, Soldin SJ, Rubinow DR, Goldman D, Schmidt PJ, Berman KF. Subgenual cingulate resting regional cerebral blood flow in premenstrual dysphoric disorder: differential regulation by ovarian steroids and preliminary evidence for an association with expression of ESC/E(Z) complex genes. Transl Psychiatry 2021; 11:206. [PMID: 33833224 PMCID: PMC8032707 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-021-01328-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2020] [Revised: 02/18/2021] [Accepted: 02/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Substantial evidence suggests that circulating ovarian steroids modulate behavior differently in women with PMDD than in those without this condition. However, hormonal state-related abnormalities of neural functioning in PMDD remain to be better characterized. In addition, while altered neural function in PMDD likely co-exists with alterations in intrinsic cellular function, such a relationship has not been explored. Here, we investigated the effects of ovarian steroids on basal, resting regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in PMDD, and, in an exploratory analysis, we tested whether the rCBF findings were linked to the expression of ESC/E(Z) genes, which form an essential ovarian steroid-regulated gene-silencing complex. Resting rCBF was measured with oxygen-15 water PET (189 PET sessions in 43 healthy women and 20 women with PMDD) during three self-as-own-control conditions: GnRH agonist (Lupron)-induced ovarian suppression, estradiol add-back, and progesterone add-back. ESC/E(Z) gene expression data were obtained from RNA-sequencing of lymphoblastoid cell lines performed in a previous study and were examined in relation to hormone-induced changes in rCBF. In the rCBF PET data, there was a significant diagnosis-by-hormone interaction in the subgenual cingulate (PFDR = 0.05), an important neuroanatomical hub for regulating affective state. Whereas control women showed no hormonally-related changes in resting rCBF, those with PMDD showed decreased resting rCBF during both estradiol (P = 0.02) and progesterone (P = 0.0002) add-back conditions. In addition, in PMDD, ESC/E(Z) gene expression correlated with the change in resting rCBF between Lupron-alone and progesterone conditions (Pearson r = -0.807, P = 0.016). This work offers a formulation of PMDD that integrates behavioral, neural circuit, and cellular mechanisms, and may provide new targets for future therapeutic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shau-Ming Wei
- grid.420086.80000 0001 2237 2479Section on Integrative Neuroimaging, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience Branch, NIMH IRP, NIH, Bethesda, MD USA ,grid.420086.80000 0001 2237 2479Behavioral Endocrinology Branch; NIMH IRP, NIH, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Erica B. Baller
- grid.420086.80000 0001 2237 2479Section on Integrative Neuroimaging, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience Branch, NIMH IRP, NIH, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Pedro E. Martinez
- grid.420086.80000 0001 2237 2479Behavioral Endocrinology Branch; NIMH IRP, NIH, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Allison C. Goff
- grid.420085.b0000 0004 0481 4802Laboratory of Neurogenetics, NIAAA, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Howard J. Li
- grid.420085.b0000 0004 0481 4802Laboratory of Neurogenetics, NIAAA, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Philip D. Kohn
- grid.420086.80000 0001 2237 2479Section on Integrative Neuroimaging, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience Branch, NIMH IRP, NIH, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - J. Shane Kippenhan
- grid.420086.80000 0001 2237 2479Section on Integrative Neuroimaging, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience Branch, NIMH IRP, NIH, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Steven J. Soldin
- grid.410305.30000 0001 2194 5650Department of Laboratory Medicine, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - David R. Rubinow
- grid.410711.20000 0001 1034 1720Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC USA
| | - David Goldman
- grid.420085.b0000 0004 0481 4802Laboratory of Neurogenetics, NIAAA, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Peter J. Schmidt
- grid.420086.80000 0001 2237 2479Behavioral Endocrinology Branch; NIMH IRP, NIH, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Karen F. Berman
- grid.420086.80000 0001 2237 2479Section on Integrative Neuroimaging, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience Branch, NIMH IRP, NIH, Bethesda, MD USA
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11
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Hwang WJ, Lee TY, Kim NS, Kwon JS. The Role of Estrogen Receptors and Their Signaling across Psychiatric Disorders. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 22:ijms22010373. [PMID: 33396472 PMCID: PMC7794990 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22010373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Revised: 12/25/2020] [Accepted: 12/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Increasing evidence suggests estrogen and estrogen signaling pathway disturbances across psychiatric disorders. Estrogens are not only crucial in sexual maturation and reproduction but are also highly involved in a wide range of brain functions, such as cognition, memory, neurodevelopment, and neuroplasticity. To add more, the recent findings of its neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects have grown interested in investigating its potential therapeutic use to psychiatric disorders. In this review, we analyze the emerging literature on estrogen receptors and psychiatric disorders in cellular, preclinical, and clinical studies. Specifically, we discuss the contribution of estrogen receptor and estrogen signaling to cognition and neuroprotection via mediating multiple neural systems, such as dopaminergic, serotonergic, and glutamatergic systems. Then, we assess their disruptions and their potential implications for pathophysiologies in psychiatric disorders. Further, in this review, current treatment strategies involving estrogen and estrogen signaling are evaluated to suggest a future direction in identifying novel treatment strategies in psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wu Jeong Hwang
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea; (W.J.H.); (J.S.K.)
| | - Tae Young Lee
- Department of Psychiatry, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan 50612, Korea;
- Research Institute for Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan 50612, Korea
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +82-55-360-2468
| | - Nahrie Suk Kim
- Department of Psychiatry, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan 50612, Korea;
| | - Jun Soo Kwon
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea; (W.J.H.); (J.S.K.)
- Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Korea
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12
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Hernández-Arteaga E, Hernández-González M, Bonilla-Jaime H, Guevara MA, Ågmo A. Pubertal stress decreases sexual motivation and supresses the relation between cerebral theta rhythms and testosterone levels in adult male rats. Brain Res 2020; 1745:146937. [PMID: 32505750 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2020.146937] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2019] [Revised: 05/27/2020] [Accepted: 06/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
This study evaluated the effect of stress during puberty on sexual motivation and the correlation between serum testosterone levels (T) and the absolute power of the theta electroencephalographic rhythms, recorded in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) of adult male rats. Thirty males of the stressed group (SG, housed 1 per cage from days 25-50) and 30 controls (CG, housed 5 per cage), were tested in copulatory interactions at 90 days of age. The above mentioned physiological parameters were obtained during the awake-quiet state in a sub-group without sexual motivation (WSM, n = 15, stimulated with a nonreceptive female) and a sub-group with sexual motivation (SM, n = 15, stimulated with a receptive-female). Pearson correlations (r) between these parameters were calculated for each sub-group and brain structure and then compared between sub-groups. SG presented higher mount and intromission latencies than CG. While CG-WSM showed a positive r between T levels and theta band (0.23-0.59), those CG-SM presented a negative r (-0.23 to -0.67). An r that tended towards zero (-0.31 to 0.29) was obtained in both stressed sub-groups. This study shows that pubertal stress suppresses the relation between serum T levels and theta rhythms in the mPFC and BLA in adult male rats. This is one of the first studies evaluating the association between these two physiological parameters specifically in the context of sexual motivation; thus increasing our understanding of the effect of pubertal stress on prefrontal-amygdaline functioning during the sexually-motivated state in male rats.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Herlinda Bonilla-Jaime
- Departamento de Biología de la Reproducción, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Iztapalapa, Mexico
| | - Miguel Angel Guevara
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
| | - Anders Ågmo
- Psychology Department, Tromsø University, Tromsø, Norway
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Polyphenol intake and cognitive decline in the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) Project. Br J Nutr 2020; 126:43-52. [PMID: 33028430 DOI: 10.1017/s000711452000392x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The global growing rates of cognitive decline and dementia, together with the absence of curative therapies for these conditions, support the interest in researching potential primary prevention interventions, with particular focus on dietary habits. The aim was to assess the association between polyphenol intake and 6-year change in cognitive function in the 'Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra' (SUN) Project, a Spanish prospective cohort study. Changes (final - initial) in cognitive function were evaluated in a subsample of 806 participants (mean age 66 (sd 5) years, 69·7 % male) of the SUN Project using the validated Spanish Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status-modified score. Polyphenol intake was derived from a validated semi-quantitative FFQ and matching food composition data from the Phenol-Explorer database. Multivariable linear regression models were used to evaluate the association between total polyphenol intake, polyphenol subclasses and cognitive changes. No significant association between total polyphenol intake and changes in cognitive function was found. However, a higher intake of lignans (βQuintile (Q) 5 v. Q1 0·81; 95 % CI 0·12, 1·51; Ptrend = 0·020) and stilbenes (βQ5 v. Q1 0·82; 95 % CI 0·15, 1·49; Ptrend = 0·028) was associated with more favourable changes in cognitive function over time, particularly with respect to immediate memory and language domains. Olive oil and nuts were the major sources of variability in lignan intake, and wine in stilbene intake. The results suggest that lignan and stilbene intake was associated with improvements in cognitive function.
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14
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Pompili A, Iorio C, Gasbarri A. Effects of sex steroid hormones on memory. Acta Neurobiol Exp (Wars) 2020. [DOI: 10.21307/ane-2020-012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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15
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Gogos A, Ney LJ, Seymour N, Van Rheenen TE, Felmingham KL. Sex differences in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder: Are gonadal hormones the link? Br J Pharmacol 2019; 176:4119-4135. [PMID: 30658014 PMCID: PMC6877792 DOI: 10.1111/bph.14584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2018] [Revised: 11/13/2018] [Accepted: 11/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
In this review, we describe the sex differences in prevalence, onset, symptom profiles, and disease outcome that are evident in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Women with schizophrenia tend to exhibit less disease impairment than men. By contrast, women with post-traumatic stress disorder are more affected than men. The most likely candidates to explain these sex differences are gonadal hormones. This review details the clinical evidence that oestradiol and progesterone are dysregulated in these psychiatric disorders. Notably, existing data on oestradiol, and to a lesser extent, progesterone, suggest that low levels of these hormones may increase the risk of disease development and worsen symptom severity. We argue that future studies require a more inclusive, considered analysis of gonadal steroid hormones and the intricacies of the interactions between them, with methodological rigour applied, to enhance our understanding of the roles of steroid hormones in psychiatric disorders. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a themed section on The Importance of Sex Differences in Pharmacology Research. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v176.21/issuetoc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Gogos
- Hormones in Psychiatry LaboratoryFlorey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental HealthParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
| | - Luke J. Ney
- School of Medicine (Psychology)University of TasmaniaSandy BayTasmaniaAustralia
| | - Natasha Seymour
- Hormones in Psychiatry LaboratoryFlorey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental HealthParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
- Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health SciencesUniversity of MelbourneParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
| | - Tamsyn E. Van Rheenen
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of PsychiatryUniversity of MelbourneParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
- Centre for Mental Health, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, Arts and DesignSwinburne UniversityMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
| | - Kim L. Felmingham
- School of Psychological SciencesUniversity of MelbourneParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
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Person B, Oinonen KA. Emotional Memory in Oral Contraceptive Users: Negative Stimuli Are More Forgettable. Psychol Rep 2019; 123:2282-2304. [DOI: 10.1177/0033294119856554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Recent research suggests oral contraceptive use is associated with altered memory for emotional story information, blunted stress hormone responses to emotional stimuli, and altered structure or function of the amygdala and hippocampus. This study examined the extent to which oral contraceptives influence relative recall of (a) the spatial location of emotional versus neutral stimuli and (b) positive versus negative emotional stimuli. Participants (58 oral contraceptive users, 40 nonusers, and 37 men) completed an Emotional Spatial Memory test and were evaluated on short-term recall and long-term (one week) recall. There was no evidence for group differences in recall of the locations of emotional versus neutral stimuli. However, oral contraceptive users remembered relatively more positive than negative items compared with nonusers and men on the spatial memory test. This effect was driven by oral contraceptive users recalling fewer negative items than free cyclers. The results indicate that hormonal contraceptives may decrease immediate recall of negative emotional stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandi Person
- Department of Psychology, Lakehead University, Canada
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17
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Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Working memory (WM) is a key process that is integral to many complex cognitive tasks, and it declines significantly with advancing age. This review will survey recent evidence supporting the idea that the functioning of the WM system in women is modulated by circulating estrogens. RECENT FINDINGS In postmenopausal women, increased estrogen concentrations may be associated with improved WM function, which is evident on WM tasks that have a high cognitive load or significant manipulation demands. Experimental studies in rhesus monkeys and human neuroimaging studies support a prefrontal locus for these effects. Defining the basic neurochemical or cellular mechanisms that underlie the ability of estrogens to regulate WM is a topic of current research in both human and animal investigations. An emerging body of work suggests that frontal executive elements of the WM system are influenced by the circulating estrogen concentrations currently available to the CNS and that the effects are region-specific within the frontal cortex. These findings have implications for women's brain health and cognitive aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth Hampson
- Department of Psychology, Social Sciences Center, and Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5C2, Canada.
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Mechanisms of Sex Differences in Fear and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Biol Psychiatry 2018; 83:876-885. [PMID: 29331353 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.11.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2017] [Revised: 11/06/2017] [Accepted: 11/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Following sexual maturity, females disproportionately have higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and experience greater symptom severity and chronicity as compared with males. This observation has led many to examine sex differences in PTSD risk factors. Though relatively few, these studies reveal that the root causes of PTSD sex differences are complex, and partly represent interactions between sex-specific nonbiological and biological risk factors, which differentially shape PTSD vulnerability. Moreover, these studies suggest that sex-specific PTSD vulnerability is partly regulated by sex differences in fear systems. Fear, which represents a highly conserved adaptive response to threatening environmental stimuli, becomes pathological in trauma- and stress-based psychiatric syndromes, such as PTSD. Over the last 30 years, considerable progress has been made in understanding normal and pathological molecular and behavioral fear processes in humans and animal models. Thus, fear mechanisms represent a tractable PTSD biomarker in the study of sex differences in fear. In this review, we discuss studies that examine nonbiological and biological sex differences that contribute to normal and pathological fear behaviors in humans and animal models. This, we hope, will shed greater light on the potential mechanisms that contribute to increased PTSD vulnerability in females.
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Hjelmervik H, Hausmann M, Craven AR, Hirnstein M, Hugdahl K, Specht K. Sex- and sex hormone-related variations in energy-metabolic frontal brain asymmetries: A magnetic resonance spectroscopy study. Neuroimage 2018; 172:817-825. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.01.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2017] [Revised: 12/22/2017] [Accepted: 01/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
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21
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Miedl SF, Wegerer M, Kerschbaum H, Blechert J, Wilhelm FH. Neural activity during traumatic film viewing is linked to endogenous estradiol and hormonal contraception. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2018; 87:20-26. [PMID: 29032323 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2017] [Revised: 09/26/2017] [Accepted: 10/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Women are at higher risk for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and recent research has highlighted a modulating role of female sex hormones for cognitive and emotional processes potentially underlying PTSD symptoms. However, studies combining fMRI recordings of brain activity during trauma film viewing with assessment of female sex hormones are missing. The trauma film paradigm - a widely used experimental analogue for trauma exposure - confronts healthy participants with traumatic film clips and thus allows studying peritraumatic processing under laboratory conditions. Following this paradigm, the current fMRI study examined the role of endogenous estradiol and synthetic sex hormones for the neural processing of traumatic (i.e., depicting interpersonal violence) vs. neutral films in 53 healthy women (mean age 22.3 years; 23 using hormonal contraception, HC). As predicted, traumatic films strongly activated areas of the fear processing network, such as amygdala, insula, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Estradiol levels in women not using HC were positively correlated with ventromedial prefrontal activity. Furthermore, women using HC as compared to women without HC demonstrated heightened insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activity during traumatic film viewing. These experimental results highlight the effects of both gonadal hormone status and HC intake on peritraumatic processing in neural regions relevant for emotion generation and regulation that have been found to be abnormal in PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan F Miedl
- Department of Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Health Psychology, & Clinical Stress and Emotion Lab, University of Salzburg, Austria.
| | - Melanie Wegerer
- Department of Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Health Psychology, & Clinical Stress and Emotion Lab, University of Salzburg, Austria; University Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Jens Blechert
- Department of Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Health Psychology, & Clinical Stress and Emotion Lab, University of Salzburg, Austria; Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Austria
| | - Frank H Wilhelm
- Department of Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Health Psychology, & Clinical Stress and Emotion Lab, University of Salzburg, Austria
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22
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Weis S, Hodgetts S, Hausmann M. Sex differences and menstrual cycle effects in cognitive and sensory resting state networks. Brain Cogn 2017; 131:66-73. [PMID: 29030069 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2017.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2017] [Revised: 08/24/2017] [Accepted: 09/05/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
It has not yet been established if resting state (RS) connectivity reflects stable characteristics of the brain, or if it is modulated by the psychological and/or physiological state of the participant. Based on research demonstrating sex hormonal effects in task-related brain activity, the present study aimed to investigate corresponding differences in RS networks. RS functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (RS fMRI) was conducted in women during three different menstrual cycle phases, while men underwent three repeated RS fMRI testing sessions. Independent component analysis was used to identify the default mode network (DMN) and an auditory RS network. For the DMN, RS connectivity was stable across testing sessions in men, but varied across the menstrual cycle in women. For the auditory network (AN), retest reliable sex difference was found. Although RS activity in the DMN has been interpreted as trait characteristic of functional brain organization, these findings suggest that RS activity in networks involving frontal areas might be less stable than in sensory-based networks and can dynamically fluctuate. This also implies that some of the previously reported effects of sex hormones on task-related activity might to some extent be mediated by cycle-related fluctuations in RS activity, especially when frontal areas are involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Weis
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany; Department of Psychology, Durham University, UK; Durham University Neuroimaging Centre (DUNIC), UK.
| | - Sophie Hodgetts
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, UK; Durham University Neuroimaging Centre (DUNIC), UK
| | - Markus Hausmann
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, UK; Durham University Neuroimaging Centre (DUNIC), UK
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Verkaik S, Kamperman AM, van Westrhenen R, Schulte PF. The treatment of premenstrual syndrome with preparations of Vitex agnus castus: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2017; 217:150-166. [PMID: 28237870 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2017.02.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2016] [Revised: 02/05/2017] [Accepted: 02/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Premenstrual syndrome is characterized by the cyclic occurrence of physical, behavioral and psychological symptoms during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle disappearing within a few days of the onset of menstruation. Generally symptoms are mild, but 5-8% of women suffer from severe PMS. Apart from conventional drugs, like serotonin reuptake inhibitors and oral contraceptives, complementary and alternative medicines such as Vitex agnus castus are used by many women experiencing PMS. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to determine the efficacy, tolerability, and acceptability of Vitex agnus castus preparations for treatment of premenstrual syndrome. STUDY DESIGN All journals in the Ovid software from inception through January 2016 were searched, including the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO. Gray literature was searched by Google Scholar and manufacturers of Vitex agnus castus preparations were contacted for information about unpublished trials. We included randomized controlled trials with Vitex agnus castus in women with premenstrual syndrome and/or premenstrual dysphoric disorder with a minimal duration of 2 menstrual cycles. The eligibility of the manuscripts was assessed by 2 reviewers independently. The data abstracted included characteristics of the study design, characteristics of the patient population, intervention details, type of comparator, method of diagnosis, and outcome measures. We adhered to the PRISMA guidelines. RESULTS We found 17 randomized controlled trials of Vitex agnus castus in the treatment of premenstrual syndrome. Fourteen of these could be included in the quantitative analysis. Thirteen of 14 studies with placebo, dietary supplements, or herbal preparations as controls reported positive effects of Vitex agnus castus on total premenstrual syndrome symptoms. Unfortunately most of the trials are associated with a high risk of bias. The pooled effect of Vitex agnus castus in placebo-controlled trials was large (Hedges g, -1.21; 95% confidence interval, -1.53 to -0.88), but heterogeneity was extremely high (I2, 91%). We were unable to single out factors that could explain this heterogeneity satisfactorily. The funnel plot and Egger tests suggest the presence of publication bias. CONCLUSION Although meta-analysis shows a large pooled effect of Vitex agnus castus in placebo-controlled trials, the high risk of bias, high heterogeneity, and risk of publication bias of the included studies preclude a definitive conclusion. The pooled treatment effects should be viewed as merely explorative and, at best, overestimating the real treatment effect of Vitex agnus castus for premenstrual syndrome symptoms. There is a clear need for high-quality trials of appropriate size examining the effect of standardized extracts of Vitex agnus castus in comparison to placebo, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and oral contraceptives to establish relative efficacy.
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Women in the midluteal phase of the menstrual cycle have difficulty suppressing the processing of negative emotional stimuli: An event-related potential study. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2017; 17:886-903. [DOI: 10.3758/s13415-017-0520-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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25
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Piekarski DJ, Johnson CM, Boivin JR, Thomas AW, Lin WC, Delevich K, M Galarce E, Wilbrecht L. Does puberty mark a transition in sensitive periods for plasticity in the associative neocortex? Brain Res 2017; 1654:123-144. [PMID: 27590721 PMCID: PMC5283387 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2016.08.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 106] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2016] [Revised: 08/17/2016] [Accepted: 08/29/2016] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Postnatal brain development is studded with sensitive periods during which experience dependent plasticity is enhanced. This enables rapid learning from environmental inputs and reorganization of cortical circuits that matches behavior with environmental contingencies. Significant headway has been achieved in characterizing and understanding sensitive period biology in primary sensory cortices, but relatively little is known about sensitive period biology in associative neocortex. One possible mediator is the onset of puberty, which marks the transition to adolescence, when animals shift their behavior toward gaining independence and exploring their social world. Puberty onset correlates with reduced behavioral plasticity in some domains and enhanced plasticity in others, and therefore may drive the transition from juvenile to adolescent brain function. Pubertal onset is also occurring earlier in developed nations, particularly in unserved populations, and earlier puberty is associated with vulnerability for substance use, depression and anxiety. In the present article we review the evidence that supports a causal role for puberty in developmental changes in the function and neurobiology of the associative neocortex. We also propose a model for how pubertal hormones may regulate sensitive period plasticity in associative neocortex. We conclude that the evidence suggests puberty onset may play a causal role in some aspects of associative neocortical development, but that further research that manipulates puberty and measures gonadal hormones is required. We argue that further work of this kind is urgently needed to determine how earlier puberty may negatively impact human health and learning potential. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Adolescent plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J Piekarski
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Carolyn M Johnson
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Josiah R Boivin
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco CA 94158, USA
| | - A Wren Thomas
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Wan Chen Lin
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Kristen Delevich
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Ezequiel M Galarce
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - Linda Wilbrecht
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley CA 94720, USA.
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Killeen T, Easthope CS, Filli L, Lőrincz L, Schrafl-Altermatt M, Brugger P, Linnebank M, Curt A, Zörner B, Bolliger M. Increasing cognitive load attenuates right arm swing in healthy human walking. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2017; 4:160993. [PMID: 28280596 PMCID: PMC5319362 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2016] [Accepted: 12/22/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Human arm swing looks and feels highly automated, yet it is increasingly apparent that higher centres, including the cortex, are involved in many aspects of locomotor control. The addition of a cognitive task increases arm swing asymmetry during walking, but the characteristics and mechanism of this asymmetry are unclear. We hypothesized that this effect is lateralized and a Stroop word-colour naming task-primarily involving left hemisphere structures-would reduce right arm swing only. We recorded gait in 83 healthy subjects aged 18-80 walking normally on a treadmill and while performing a congruent and incongruent Stroop task. The primary measure of arm swing asymmetry-an index based on both three-dimensional wrist trajectories in which positive values indicate proportionally smaller movements on the right-increased significantly under dual-task conditions in those aged 40-59 and further still in the over-60s, driven by reduced right arm flexion. Right arm swing attenuation appears to be the norm in humans performing a locomotor-cognitive dual-task, confirming a prominent role of the brain in locomotor behaviour. Women under 60 are surprisingly resistant to this effect, revealing unexpected gender differences atop the hierarchical chain of locomotor control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Killeen
- Spinal Cord Injury Center, University Hospital Balgrist, Forchstrasse 340, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Christopher S. Easthope
- Spinal Cord Injury Center, University Hospital Balgrist, Forchstrasse 340, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Linard Filli
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Frauenklinikstrasse 26, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Lilla Lőrincz
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Frauenklinikstrasse 26, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Miriam Schrafl-Altermatt
- Spinal Cord Injury Center, University Hospital Balgrist, Forchstrasse 340, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Peter Brugger
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Frauenklinikstrasse 26, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Michael Linnebank
- Department of Neurology, Helios-Klinik Hagen-Ambrock, Ambrocker Weg 60, 58091 Hagen, Germany
| | - Armin Curt
- Spinal Cord Injury Center, University Hospital Balgrist, Forchstrasse 340, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Björn Zörner
- Spinal Cord Injury Center, University Hospital Balgrist, Forchstrasse 340, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Marc Bolliger
- Spinal Cord Injury Center, University Hospital Balgrist, Forchstrasse 340, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland
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Seiger R, Hahn A, Hummer A, Kranz GS, Ganger S, Woletz M, Kraus C, Sladky R, Kautzky A, Kasper S, Windischberger C, Lanzenberger R. Subcortical gray matter changes in transgender subjects after long-term cross-sex hormone administration. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2016; 74:371-379. [PMID: 27744092 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.09.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2016] [Revised: 08/29/2016] [Accepted: 09/21/2016] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Sex-steroid hormones are primarily involved in sexual differentiation and development and are thought to underlie processes related to cognition and emotion. However, divergent results have been reported concerning the effects of hormone administration on brain structure including side effects like brain atrophy and dementia. Cross-sex hormone therapy in transgender subjects offers a unique model for studying the effects of sex hormones on the living human brain. In this study, 25 Female-to-Male (FtM) and 14 Male-to-Female (MtF) subjects underwent MRI examinations at baseline and after a period of at least 4-months of continuous cross-sex hormone administration. While MtFs received estradiol and anti-androgens, FtM subjects underwent high-dose testosterone treatment. The longitudinal processing stream of the FreeSurfer software suite was used for the automated assessment and delineation of brain volumes to assess the structural changes over the treatment period of cross-sex hormone administration. Most prominent results were found for MtFs receiving estradiol and anti-androgens in the form of significant decreases in the hippocampal region. Further analysis revealed that these decreases were reflected by increases in the ventricles. Additionally, changes in progesterone levels correlated with changes in gray matter structures in MtF subjects. In line with prior studies, our results indicate hormonal influences on subcortical structures related to memory and emotional processing. Additionally, this study adds valuable knowledge that progesterone may play an important role in this process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rene Seiger
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Andreas Hahn
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Allan Hummer
- MR Centre of Excellence, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Georg S Kranz
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Sebastian Ganger
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Michael Woletz
- MR Centre of Excellence, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Christoph Kraus
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Ronald Sladky
- MR Centre of Excellence, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Alexander Kautzky
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Siegfried Kasper
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Christian Windischberger
- MR Centre of Excellence, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Rupert Lanzenberger
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
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Candeias E, Duarte AI, Sebastião I, Fernandes MA, Plácido AI, Carvalho C, Correia S, Santos RX, Seiça R, Santos MS, Oliveira CR, Moreira PI. Middle-Aged Diabetic Females and Males Present Distinct Susceptibility to Alzheimer Disease-like Pathology. Mol Neurobiol 2016; 54:6471-6489. [PMID: 27730513 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-016-0155-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2016] [Accepted: 09/22/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a highly concerning public health problem of the twenty-first century. Currently, it is estimated that T2D affects 422 million people worldwide with a rapidly increasing prevalence. During the past two decades, T2D has been widely shown to have a major impact in the brain. This, together with the cognitive decline and increased risk for dementia upon T2D, may arise from the complex interaction between normal brain aging and central insulin signaling dysfunction. Among the several features shared between T2D and some neurodegenerative disorders (e.g., Alzheimer disease (AD)), the impairment of insulin signaling may be a key link. However, these may also involve changes in sex hormones' function and metabolism, ultimately contributing to the different susceptibilities between females and males to some pathologies. For example, female sex has been pointed as a risk factor for AD, particularly after menopause. However, less is known on the underlying molecular mechanisms or even if these changes start during middle-age (perimenopause). From the above, we hypothesized that sex differentially affects hormone-mediated intracellular signaling pathways in T2D brain, ultimately modulating the risk for neurodegenerative conditions. We aimed to evaluate sex-associated alterations in estrogen/insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)/insulin-related signaling, oxidative stress markers, and AD-like hallmarks in middle-aged control and T2D rat brain cortices. We used brain cortices homogenates obtained from middle-aged (8-month-old) control Wistar and non-obese, spontaneously T2D Goto-Kakizaki (GK) male and female rats. Peripheral characterization of the animal models was done by standard biochemical analyses of blood, plasma, or serum. Steroid sex hormones, oxidative stress markers, and AD-like hallmarks were given by specific ELISA kits and colorimetric techniques, whereas the levels of intracellular signaling proteins were determined by Western blotting. Albeit the high levels of plasma estradiol and progesterone observed in middle-aged control females suggested that they were still under their reproductive phase, some gonadal dysfunction might be already occurring in T2D ones, hence, anticipating their menopause. Moreover, the higher blood and lower brain cholesterol levels in female rats suggested that its dysfunctional uptake into the brain cortex may also hamper peripheral estrogen uptake and/or its local brain steroidogenic metabolism. Despite the massive drop in IGF-1 levels in females' brains, particularly upon T2D, they might have developed some compensatory mechanisms towards the maintenance of estrogen, IGF-1, and insulin receptors function and of the subsequent Akt- and ERK1/2-mediated signaling. These may ultimately delay the deleterious AD-like brain changes (including oxidative damage to lipids and DNA, amyloidogenic processing of amyloid precursor protein and increased tau protein phosphorylation) associated with T2D and/or age (reproductive senescence) in female rats. By demonstrating that differential sex steroid hormone profiles/action may play a pivotal role in brain over T2D progression, the present study reinforces the need to establish sex-specific preventive and/or therapeutic approaches and an appropriate time window for the efficient treatment against T2D and AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Candeias
- CNC- Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rua Larga, Faculty of Medicine (Pólo 1, 1st Floor), University of Coimbra, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (IIIUC), University of Coimbra, Casa Costa Alemão - Pólo II, Rua D. Francisco de Lemos, 3030-789, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - A I Duarte
- CNC- Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rua Larga, Faculty of Medicine (Pólo 1, 1st Floor), University of Coimbra, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal.
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (IIIUC), University of Coimbra, Casa Costa Alemão - Pólo II, Rua D. Francisco de Lemos, 3030-789, Coimbra, Portugal.
| | - I Sebastião
- CNC- Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rua Larga, Faculty of Medicine (Pólo 1, 1st Floor), University of Coimbra, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - M A Fernandes
- Life Sciences Department, University of Coimbra, Largo Marquês de Pombal, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal
- Instituto do Mar, Life Sciences Department, University of Coimbra, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - A I Plácido
- CNC- Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rua Larga, Faculty of Medicine (Pólo 1, 1st Floor), University of Coimbra, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, 3004-504, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - C Carvalho
- CNC- Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rua Larga, Faculty of Medicine (Pólo 1, 1st Floor), University of Coimbra, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (IIIUC), University of Coimbra, Casa Costa Alemão - Pólo II, Rua D. Francisco de Lemos, 3030-789, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - S Correia
- CNC- Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rua Larga, Faculty of Medicine (Pólo 1, 1st Floor), University of Coimbra, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (IIIUC), University of Coimbra, Casa Costa Alemão - Pólo II, Rua D. Francisco de Lemos, 3030-789, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - R X Santos
- CNC- Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rua Larga, Faculty of Medicine (Pólo 1, 1st Floor), University of Coimbra, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal
- Life Sciences Department, University of Coimbra, Largo Marquês de Pombal, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - R Seiça
- Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, 3004-504, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - M S Santos
- CNC- Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rua Larga, Faculty of Medicine (Pólo 1, 1st Floor), University of Coimbra, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal
- Instituto do Mar, Life Sciences Department, University of Coimbra, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - C R Oliveira
- CNC- Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rua Larga, Faculty of Medicine (Pólo 1, 1st Floor), University of Coimbra, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal
- Institute of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, 3004-504, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - P I Moreira
- CNC- Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rua Larga, Faculty of Medicine (Pólo 1, 1st Floor), University of Coimbra, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal.
- Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, 3004-504, Coimbra, Portugal.
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Guillamon A, Junque C, Gómez-Gil E. A Review of the Status of Brain Structure Research in Transsexualism. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2016; 45:1615-48. [PMID: 27255307 PMCID: PMC4987404 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-016-0768-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2014] [Revised: 09/22/2015] [Accepted: 04/29/2016] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
The present review focuses on the brain structure of male-to-female (MtF) and female-to-male (FtM) homosexual transsexuals before and after cross-sex hormone treatment as shown by in vivo neuroimaging techniques. Cortical thickness and diffusion tensor imaging studies suggest that the brain of MtFs presents complex mixtures of masculine, feminine, and demasculinized regions, while FtMs show feminine, masculine, and defeminized regions. Consequently, the specific brain phenotypes proposed for MtFs and FtMs differ from those of both heterosexual males and females. These phenotypes have theoretical implications for brain intersexuality, asymmetry, and body perception in transsexuals as well as for Blanchard's hypothesis on sexual orientation in homosexual MtFs. Falling within the aegis of the neurohormonal theory of sex differences, we hypothesize that cortical differences between homosexual MtFs and FtMs and male and female controls are due to differently timed cortical thinning in different regions for each group. Cross-sex hormone studies have reported marked effects of the treatment on MtF and FtM brains. Their results are used to discuss the early postmortem histological studies of the MtF brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Guillamon
- Departamento de Psicobiología, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, c/Juand del Rosal, 10, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
- Academia de Psicología de España, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Carme Junque
- Departamento de Psiquiatría y Psicobiología Clínica, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institute of Biomedical Research August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Esther Gómez-Gil
- Institute of Biomedical Research August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain
- Unidad de Identidad de Género, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain
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Rossetti MF, Cambiasso MJ, Holschbach MA, Cabrera R. Oestrogens and Progestagens: Synthesis and Action in the Brain. J Neuroendocrinol 2016; 28. [PMID: 27306650 DOI: 10.1111/jne.12402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2016] [Revised: 06/14/2016] [Accepted: 06/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
When steroids, such as pregnenolone, progesterone and oestrogen, are synthesised de novo in neural tissues, they are more specifically referred to as neurosteroids. These neurosteroids bind specific receptors to promote essential brain functions. Pregnenolone supports cognition and protects mouse hippocampal cells against glutamate and amyloid peptide-induced cell death. Progesterone promotes myelination, spinogenesis, synaptogenesis, neuronal survival and dendritic growth. Allopregnanolone increases hippocampal neurogenesis, neuronal survival and cognitive functions. Oestrogens, such as oestradiol, regulate synaptic plasticity, reproductive behaviour, aggressive behaviour and learning. In addition, neurosteroids are neuroprotective in animal models of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, brain injury and ageing. Using in situ hybridisation and/or immunohistochemistry, steroidogenic enzymes, including cytochrome P450 side-chain cleavage, 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/Δ5-Δ4 isomerase, cytochrome P450arom, steroid 5α-reductase and 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, have been detected in numerous brain regions, including the hippocampus, hypothalamus and cerebral cortex. In the present review, we summarise some of the studies related to the synthesis and function of oestrogens and progestagens in the central nervous system.
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Affiliation(s)
- M F Rossetti
- Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina
- Instituto de Salud y Ambiente del Litoral, CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina
| | - M J Cambiasso
- Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra, INIMEC-CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
- Departamento de Biología Bucal, Facultad de Odontología, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - M A Holschbach
- Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - R Cabrera
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, INBIOMED-IMBECU-CONICET, Universidad de Mendoza, Mendoza, Argentina
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31
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Cortisol disrupts the neural correlates of extinction recall. Neuroimage 2016; 133:233-243. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.03.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2015] [Revised: 02/26/2016] [Accepted: 03/03/2016] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
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Soni M, White LR, Kridawati A, Bandelow S, Hogervorst E. Phytoestrogen consumption and risk for cognitive decline and dementia: With consideration of thyroid status and other possible mediators. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2016; 160:67-77. [PMID: 26535810 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2015.10.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2015] [Revised: 09/07/2015] [Accepted: 10/29/2015] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
It is predicted that around 20% of the worlds population will be age 60 or above by 2050. Prevalence of cognitive decline and dementia is high in older adults and modifiable dietary factors may be able to reduce risk for these conditions. Phytoestrogens are bioactive plant chemicals found in soy, which have a similarity in structure to natural estradiol (the most abundant circulating estrogen). This structural likeness enables phytoestrogens to interact with estrogen receptors in the brain, potentially affecting cognition. However, findings in this domain are largely inconsistent, with approximately 50% of studies showing positive effects of phytoestrogens on cognition and the other half resulting in null/negative findings. This paper provides an updated review of the relationship between consumption of phytoestrogens and risk for cognitive decline and/or dementia. In particular, possible mediators were identified to explain discrepant findings and for consideration in future research. A case can be made for a link between phytoestrogen consumption, thyroid status and cognition in older age, although current findings in this area are very limited. Evidence suggests that inter-individual variants that can affect phytoestrogen bioavailability (and thus cognitive outcome) include age and ability to breakdown ingested phytoestrogens into their bioactive metabolites. Factors of the study design that must be taken into account are type of soy product, dosage, frequency of dietary intake and type of cognitive test used. Guidelines regarding optimal phytoestrogen dosage and frequency of intake are yet to be determined.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Soni
- School of Sport Exercise and Health Sciences, National Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, United Kingdom
| | - L R White
- Pacific Health Research and Education Institute, Kuakini Physicians Tower, 405 N. Juakini St., Ste. 1111, Honolulu, HI 96817, USA.
| | - A Kridawati
- Department of Public Health, Respati University Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
| | - S Bandelow
- Department of Public Health, Respati University Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
| | - E Hogervorst
- School of Sport Exercise and Health Sciences, National Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, United Kingdom.
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Madularu D, Kulkarni P, Yee JR, Kenkel WM, Shams WM, Ferris CF, Brake WG. High estrogen and chronic haloperidol lead to greater amphetamine-induced BOLD activation in awake, amphetamine-sensitized female rats. Horm Behav 2016; 82:56-63. [PMID: 27154458 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2016.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2015] [Revised: 03/24/2016] [Accepted: 04/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The ovarian hormone estrogen has been implicated in schizophrenia symptomatology. Low levels of estrogen are associated with an increase in symptom severity, while exogenous estrogen increases the efficacy of antipsychotic medication, pointing at a possible interaction between estrogen and the dopaminergic system. The aim of this study is to further investigate this interaction in an animal model of some aspects of schizophrenia using awake functional magnetic resonance imaging. Animals receiving 17β-estradiol and haloperidol were scanned and BOLD activity was assessed in response to amphetamine. High 17β-estradiol replacement and chronic haloperidol treatment showed increased BOLD activity in regions of interest and neural networks associated with schizophrenia (hippocampal formations, habenula, amygdala, hypothalamus etc.), compared with low, or no 17β-estradiol. These data show that chronic haloperidol treatment has a sensitizing effect, possibly on the dopaminergic system, and this effect is dependent on hormonal status, with high 17β-estradiol showing the greatest BOLD increase. Furthermore, these experiments further support the use of imaging techniques in studying schizophrenia, as modeled in the rat, but can be extended to addiction and other disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Madularu
- Concordia University, Department of Psychology, Center for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology, 7141 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, QC, Canada, H4B 1R6.
| | - Praveen Kulkarni
- Northeastern University, Department of Psychology, Center for Translational Neuroimaging, 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, USA, 02115
| | - Jason R Yee
- Northeastern University, Department of Psychology, Center for Translational Neuroimaging, 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, USA, 02115
| | - William M Kenkel
- Northeastern University, Department of Psychology, Center for Translational Neuroimaging, 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, USA, 02115
| | - Waqqas M Shams
- Concordia University, Department of Psychology, Center for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology, 7141 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, QC, Canada, H4B 1R6
| | - Craig F Ferris
- Northeastern University, Department of Psychology, Center for Translational Neuroimaging, 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, USA, 02115
| | - Wayne G Brake
- Concordia University, Department of Psychology, Center for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology, 7141 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, QC, Canada, H4B 1R6
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Shams WM, Sanio C, Quinlan MG, Brake WG. 17β-Estradiol infusions into the dorsal striatum rapidly increase dorsal striatal dopamine release in vivo. Neuroscience 2016; 330:162-70. [PMID: 27256507 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.05.049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2016] [Revised: 05/24/2016] [Accepted: 05/25/2016] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Systemic injections of 17β-estradiol (E2) in ovariectomized (OVX) female rats rapidly enhance dorsal striatal dopamine (DA) release in response to amphetamine (AMPH). Additionally, a single injection of E2 rapidly (within 30min) enhances amphetamine-induced DA release. In situ studies show that this rapid effect of E2 occurs specifically within the dorsal striatum (DS). The present study investigated the in vivo effects of E2 infused into the DS, medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) or the substantia nigra (SN) on dorsal striatal DA release. Rats were OVX and implanted with a silastic tube containing 5% E2 in cholesterol, previously shown to mimic low physiological serum concentrations of 18-32pg/ml. Single-probe microdialysis was used to measure extracellular DA levels in the DS. In addition, DA release was measured subsequent to systemic injections of the indirect DA agonist, AMPH (0.5mg/kg SC), administered simultaneously with E2 (0.544μg/100μl) or its vehicle, cyclodextrin (VEH) (0.520μg/100μl). Local infusions of E2 into the DS resulted in a greater amphetamine-induced dorsal striatal DA release in comparison to vehicle. Local infusions of E2 into the mPFC or the SN did not result in an enhancement of amphetamine-induced DA levels in the DS. These studies suggest that increases in dorsal striatal DA release in response to systemic E2 are a consequence of E2 actions within the DS itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- Waqqas M Shams
- Centre for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology (CSBN), Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal H4B1R6, Canada.
| | - Christian Sanio
- Centre for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology (CSBN), Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal H4B1R6, Canada.
| | - Matthew G Quinlan
- Centre for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology (CSBN), Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal H4B1R6, Canada.
| | - Wayne G Brake
- Centre for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology (CSBN), Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal H4B1R6, Canada.
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Adjunctive selective estrogen receptor modulator increases neural activity in the hippocampus and inferior frontal gyrus during emotional face recognition in schizophrenia. Transl Psychiatry 2016; 6:e795. [PMID: 27138794 PMCID: PMC5070055 DOI: 10.1038/tp.2016.59] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2015] [Revised: 02/29/2016] [Accepted: 03/05/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Estrogen has been implicated in the development and course of schizophrenia with most evidence suggesting a neuroprotective effect. Treatment with raloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, can reduce symptom severity, improve cognition and normalize brain activity during learning in schizophrenia. People with schizophrenia are especially impaired in the identification of negative facial emotions. The present study was designed to determine the extent to which adjunctive raloxifene treatment would alter abnormal neural activity during angry facial emotion recognition in schizophrenia. Twenty people with schizophrenia (12 men, 8 women) participated in a 13-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of adjunctive raloxifene treatment (120 mg per day orally) and performed a facial emotion recognition task during functional magnetic resonance imaging after each treatment phase. Two-sample t-tests in regions of interest selected a priori were performed to assess activation differences between raloxifene and placebo conditions during the recognition of angry faces. Adjunctive raloxifene significantly increased activation in the right hippocampus and left inferior frontal gyrus compared with the placebo condition (family-wise error, P<0.05). There was no significant difference in performance accuracy or reaction time between active and placebo conditions. To the best of our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence suggesting that adjunctive raloxifene treatment changes neural activity in brain regions associated with facial emotion recognition in schizophrenia. These findings support the hypothesis that estrogen plays a modifying role in schizophrenia and shows that adjunctive raloxifene treatment may reverse abnormal neural activity during facial emotion recognition, which is relevant to impaired social functioning in men and women with schizophrenia.
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36
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Kindler J, Weickert CS, Skilleter AJ, Catts SV, Lenroot R, Weickert TW. Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulation Increases Hippocampal Activity during Probabilistic Association Learning in Schizophrenia. Neuropsychopharmacology 2015; 40:2388-97. [PMID: 25829142 PMCID: PMC4538353 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2015.88] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2014] [Revised: 02/14/2015] [Accepted: 03/09/2015] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
People with schizophrenia show probabilistic association learning impairment in conjunction with abnormal neural activity. The selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) raloxifene preserves neural activity during memory in healthy older men and improves memory in schizophrenia. Here, we tested the extent to which raloxifene modifies neural activity during learning in schizophrenia. Nineteen people with schizophrenia participated in a twelve-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over adjunctive treatment trial of the SERM raloxifene administered orally at 120 mg daily to assess brain activity during probabilistic association learning using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Raloxifene improved probabilistic association learning and significantly increased fMRI BOLD activity in the hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus relative to placebo. A separate region of interest confirmatory analysis in 21 patients vs 36 healthy controls showed a positive association between parahippocampal neural activity and learning in patients, but no such relationship in the parahippocampal gyrus of healthy controls. Thus, selective estrogen receptor modulation by raloxifene concurrently increases activity in the parahippocampal gyrus and improves probabilistic association learning in schizophrenia. These results support a role for estrogen receptor modulation of mesial temporal lobe neural activity in the remediation of learning disabilities in both men and women with schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jochen Kindler
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia,Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW, Australia,Department of Psychiatric Neurophysiology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Cynthia Shannon Weickert
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia,Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW, Australia,Schizophrenia Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia
| | - Ashley J Skilleter
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia,Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW, Australia,Schizophrenia Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia
| | - Stanley V Catts
- School of Medical Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Rhoshel Lenroot
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia,Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW, Australia,Schizophrenia Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia
| | - Thomas W Weickert
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW, Australia,Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW, Australia,Schizophrenia Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia,School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Neuroscience Research Australia, Barker Street, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia, Tel: +61 2 9399 1730, Fax: +61 2 9399 1034, E-mail:
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Almey A, Milner TA, Brake WG. Estrogen receptors in the central nervous system and their implication for dopamine-dependent cognition in females. Horm Behav 2015; 74:125-38. [PMID: 26122294 PMCID: PMC4820286 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 179] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2015] [Revised: 06/08/2015] [Accepted: 06/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
This article is part of a Special Issue "Estradiol and cognition". Over the past 30 years, research has demonstrated that estrogens not only are important for female reproduction, but also play a role in a diverse array of cognitive functions. Originally, estrogens were thought to have only one receptor, localized exclusively to the cytoplasm and nucleus of cells. However, it is now known that there are at least three estrogen receptors (ERs): ERα, ERβ and G-protein coupled ER1 (GPER1). In addition to being localized to nuclei, ERα and ERβ are localized to the cell membrane, and GPER1 is also observed at the cell membrane. The mechanism through which ERs are associated with the membrane remains unclear, but palmitoylation of receptors and associations between ERs and caveolin are implicated in membrane association. ERα and ERβ are mostly observed in the nucleus using light microscopy unless they are particularly abundant. However, electron microscopy has revealed that ERs are also found at the membrane in complimentary distributions in multiple brain regions, many of which are innervated by dopamine inputs and were previously thought to contain few ERs. In particular, membrane-associated ERs are observed in the prefrontal cortex, dorsal striatum, nucleus accumbens, and hippocampus, all of which are involved in learning and memory. These findings provide a mechanism for the rapid effects of estrogens in these regions. The effects of estrogens on dopamine-dependent cognition likely result from binding at both nuclear and membrane-associated ERs, so elucidating the localization of membrane-associated ERs helps provide a more complete understanding of the cognitive effects of these hormones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Almey
- Centre for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology (CSBN), Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
| | - Teresa A Milner
- Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY USA; Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Wayne G Brake
- Centre for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology (CSBN), Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
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Hara Y, Waters EM, McEwen BS, Morrison JH. Estrogen Effects on Cognitive and Synaptic Health Over the Lifecourse. Physiol Rev 2015; 95:785-807. [PMID: 26109339 PMCID: PMC4491541 DOI: 10.1152/physrev.00036.2014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 250] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Estrogen facilitates higher cognitive functions by exerting effects on brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Estrogen induces spinogenesis and synaptogenesis in these two brain regions and also initiates a complex set of signal transduction pathways via estrogen receptors (ERs). Along with the classical genomic effects mediated by activation of ER α and ER β, there are membrane-bound ER α, ER β, and G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 (GPER1) that can mediate rapid nongenomic effects. All key ERs present throughout the body are also present in synapses of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. This review summarizes estrogen actions in the brain from the standpoint of their effects on synapse structure and function, noting also the synergistic role of progesterone. We first begin with a review of ER subtypes in the brain and how their abundance and distributions are altered with aging and estrogen loss (e.g., ovariectomy or menopause) in the rodent, monkey, and human brain. As there is much evidence that estrogen loss induced by menopause can exacerbate the effects of aging on cognitive functions, we then review the clinical trials of hormone replacement therapies and their effectiveness on cognitive symptoms experienced by women. Finally, we summarize studies carried out in nonhuman primate models of age- and menopause-related cognitive decline that are highly relevant for developing effective interventions for menopausal women. Together, we highlight a new understanding of how estrogen affects higher cognitive functions and synaptic health that go well beyond its effects on reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuko Hara
- Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Kastor Neurobiology of Aging Laboratories, Friedman Brain Institute, Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; and Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York
| | - Elizabeth M Waters
- Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Kastor Neurobiology of Aging Laboratories, Friedman Brain Institute, Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; and Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York
| | - Bruce S McEwen
- Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Kastor Neurobiology of Aging Laboratories, Friedman Brain Institute, Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; and Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York
| | - John H Morrison
- Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Kastor Neurobiology of Aging Laboratories, Friedman Brain Institute, Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; and Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York
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Weickert TW, Weinberg D, Lenroot R, Catts SV, Wells R, Vercammen A, O'Donnell M, Galletly C, Liu D, Balzan R, Short B, Pellen D, Curtis J, Carr VJ, Kulkarni J, Schofield PR, Weickert CS. Adjunctive raloxifene treatment improves attention and memory in men and women with schizophrenia. Mol Psychiatry 2015; 20:685-94. [PMID: 25980345 PMCID: PMC4444978 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2015.11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2014] [Revised: 12/03/2014] [Accepted: 12/19/2014] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
There is increasing clinical and molecular evidence for the role of hormones and specifically estrogen and its receptor in schizophrenia. A selective estrogen receptor modulator, raloxifene, stimulates estrogen-like activity in brain and can improve cognition in older adults. The present study tested the extent to which adjunctive raloxifene treatment improved cognition and reduced symptoms in young to middle-age men and women with schizophrenia. Ninety-eight patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were recruited into a dual-site, thirteen-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of adjunctive raloxifene treatment in addition to their usual antipsychotic medications. Symptom severity and cognition in the domains of working memory, attention/processing speed, language and verbal memory were assessed at baseline, 6 and 13 weeks. Analyses of the initial 6-week phase of the study using a parallel groups design (with 39 patients receiving placebo and 40 receiving raloxifene) revealed that participants receiving adjunctive raloxifene treatment showed significant improvement relative to placebo in memory and attention/processing speed. There was no reduction in symptom severity with treatment compared with placebo. There were significant carryover effects, suggesting some cognitive benefits are sustained even after raloxifene withdrawal. Analysis of the 13-week crossover data revealed significant improvement with raloxifene only in attention/processing speed. This is the first study to show that daily, oral adjunctive raloxifene treatment at 120 mg per day has beneficial effects on attention/processing speed and memory for both men and women with schizophrenia. Thus, raloxifene may be useful as an adjunctive treatment for cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- T W Weickert
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia,Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia,Schizophrenia Research Institute, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia,School of Psychiatry University of New South Wales Neuroscience Research Australia Barker Street, Randwick 2031, New South Wales Australia. E-mail:
| | - D Weinberg
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia
| | - R Lenroot
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia,Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia,Schizophrenia Research Institute, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
| | - S V Catts
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia,School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - R Wells
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia,Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia
| | - A Vercammen
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia,Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia,Schizophrenia Research Institute, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia,School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia
| | - M O'Donnell
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia
| | - C Galletly
- Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, the University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia,Northern Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - D Liu
- Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, the University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia,Northern Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - R Balzan
- Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, the University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia,School of Psychology, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - B Short
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia
| | - D Pellen
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia
| | - J Curtis
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia
| | - V J Carr
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia,Schizophrenia Research Institute, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
| | - J Kulkarni
- Alfred Psychiatric Research Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - P R Schofield
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia,Schizophrenia Research Institute, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia,School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - C S Weickert
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia,Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia,Schizophrenia Research Institute, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
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40
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Ji E, Weickert CS, Lenroot R, Catts SV, Vercammen A, White C, Gur RE, Weickert TW. Endogenous testosterone levels are associated with neural activity in men with schizophrenia during facial emotion processing. Behav Brain Res 2015; 286:338-46. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2015.03.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2015] [Revised: 03/07/2015] [Accepted: 03/11/2015] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
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Keeley RJ, Burger DK, Saucier DM, Iwaniuk AN. The size of non-hippocampal brain regions varies by season and sex in Richardson's ground squirrel. Neuroscience 2015; 289:194-206. [PMID: 25595988 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.12.077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2014] [Revised: 11/29/2014] [Accepted: 12/18/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Sex- and season-specific modulation of hippocampal size and function is observed across multiple species, including rodents. Other non-hippocampal-dependent behaviors exhibit season and sex differences, and whether the associated brain regions exhibit similar variation with sex and season remains to be fully characterized. As such, we examined the brains of wild-caught Richardson's ground squirrels (RGS; Urocitellus richardsonii) for seasonal (breeding, non-breeding) and sex differences in the volumes of specific brain areas, including: total brain volume, corpus callosum (CC), anterior commissure (AC), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), total neocortex (NC), entorhinal cortex (EC), and superior colliculus (SC). Analyses of variance and covariance revealed significant interactions between season and sex for almost all areas studied, primarily resulting from females captured during the breeding season exhibiting larger volumes than females captured during the non-breeding season. This was observed for volumes of the AC, mPFC, NC, EC, and SC. Where simple main effects of season were observed for males (the NC and the SC), the volume advantage favoured males captured during the NBr season. Only two simple main effects of sex were observed: males captured in the non-breeding season had significantly larger total brain volume than females captured in the non-breeding season, and females captured during the breeding season had larger volumes of the mPFC and EC than males captured in the breeding season. These results indicate that females have more pronounced seasonal differences in brain and brain region sizes. The extent to which seasonal differences in brain region volumes vary with behaviour is unclear, but our data do suggest that seasonal plasticity is not limited to the hippocampus and that RGS is a useful mammalian species for understanding seasonal plasticity in an ecologically relevant context.
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Affiliation(s)
- R J Keeley
- Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada.
| | - D K Burger
- Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada
| | - D M Saucier
- Faculty of Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, ON L1H 7K4, Canada
| | - A N Iwaniuk
- Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada
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42
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Almey A, Cannell E, Bertram K, Filardo E, Milner TA, Brake WG. Medial prefrontal cortical estradiol rapidly alters memory system bias in female rats: ultrastructural analysis reveals membrane-associated estrogen receptors as potential mediators. Endocrinology 2014; 155:4422-32. [PMID: 25211590 PMCID: PMC4197985 DOI: 10.1210/en.2014-1463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
High plasma levels of estradiol (E2) are associated with use of a place memory system over a response memory system. We examined whether infusing estradiol into the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) or anterior cingulate cortex (AC) could affect memory system bias in female rats. We also examined the ultrastructural distribution of estrogen receptor (ER)-α, ERβ, and G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 (GPER1) in the mPFC of female rats as a mechanism for the behavioral effects of E2 in the mPFC. Each rat was infused bilaterally with either E2 (0.13 μg) or vehicle into the mPFC or AC. The majority of E2 mPFC rats used place memory. In contrast, the majority of mPFC vehicle rats and AC E2 or vehicle rats used response memory. These data show that mPFC E2 rapidly biases females to use place memory. Electron microscopic analysis demonstrated that ERα, ERβ, and GPER1 are localized in the mPFC, almost exclusively at extranuclear sites. This is the first time that GPER1 has been localized to the mPFC of rats and the first time that ERα and ERβ have been described at extranuclear sites in the rat mPFC. The majority of receptors were observed on axons and axon terminals, suggesting that estrogens alter presynaptic transmission in the mPFC. This provides a mechanism via which ERs could rapidly alter transmission in the mPFC to alter PFC-dependent behaviors, such as memory system bias. The discrete nature of immunolabeling for these membrane-associated ERs may explain the discrepancy in previous light microscopy studies.
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43
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Wegerer M, Kerschbaum H, Blechert J, Wilhelm FH. Low levels of estradiol are associated with elevated conditioned responding during fear extinction and with intrusive memories in daily life. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2014; 116:145-54. [PMID: 25463649 PMCID: PMC4256064 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2014.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2014] [Revised: 09/08/2014] [Accepted: 10/09/2014] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Intrusive memories can be seen as conditioned responses to trauma reminders. Novel conditioned-intrusion paradigm models both fear conditioning and intrusions. Low estradiol is related to higher conditioned responses during fear extinction. Low estradiol is related to higher intrusive memory strength in daily life. Conditioned responding during extinction partially explains the latter relationship.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be conceptualized as a disorder of emotional memory showing strong (conditioned) responses to trauma reminders and intrusive memories among other symptoms. Women are at greater risk of developing PTSD than men. Recent studies have demonstrated an influence of ovarian steroid hormones in both fear conditioning and intrusive memory paradigms. However, although intrusive memories are considered non-extinguished emotional reactions to trauma reminders, none of the previous studies has investigated effects of ovarian hormones on fear conditioning mechanisms and intrusive memories in conjunction. This may have contributed to an overall inconsistent picture of the role of these hormones in emotional learning and memory. To remedy this, we exposed 37 healthy women with a natural menstrual cycle (during early follicular or luteal cycle phase) to a novel conditioned-intrusion paradigm designed to model real-life traumatic experiences. The paradigm included a differential fear conditioning procedure with short violent film clips as unconditioned stimuli. Intrusive memories about the film clips were assessed ambulatorily on subsequent days. Women with lower levels of estradiol displayed elevated differential conditioned skin conductance responding during fear extinction and showed stronger intrusive memories. The inverse relationship between estradiol and intrusive memories was at least partially accounted for by the conditioned responding observed during fear extinction. Progesterone levels were not associated with either fear acquisition/extinction or with intrusive memories. This suggests that lower levels of estradiol might promote stronger symptoms of PTSD through associative processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie Wegerer
- Division of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Health Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstraße 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
| | - Hubert Kerschbaum
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstraße 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
| | - Jens Blechert
- Division of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Health Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstraße 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
| | - Frank H Wilhelm
- Division of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Health Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstraße 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
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Borrow AP, Cameron NM. Estrogenic mediation of serotonergic and neurotrophic systems: implications for female mood disorders. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2014; 54:13-25. [PMID: 24865152 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2014.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2014] [Revised: 05/13/2014] [Accepted: 05/14/2014] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Clinical research has demonstrated a significant sex difference in the occurrence of depressive disorders. Beginning at pubertal onset, women report a higher incidence of depression than men. Women are also vulnerable to the development of depressive disorders such as premenstrual dysphoric disorder, postpartum depression, and perimenopausal depression. These disorders are associated with reproductive stages involving changes in gonadal hormone levels. Specifically, female depression and female affective behaviors are influenced by estradiol levels. This review argues two major mechanisms by which estrogens influence depression and depressive-like behavior: through interactions with neurotrophic factors and through an influence on the serotonergic system. In particular, estradiol increases brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels within the brain, and alters serotonergic expression in a receptor subtype-specific manner. We will take a regional approach, examining these effects of estrogens in the major brain areas implicated in depression. Finally, we will discuss the gaps in our current knowledge of the effects of estrogens on female depression, and the potential utility for estrogen receptor modulators in treatment for this disorder.
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Mechanisms of estradiol in fear circuitry: implications for sex differences in psychopathology. Transl Psychiatry 2014; 4:e422. [PMID: 25093600 PMCID: PMC4150242 DOI: 10.1038/tp.2014.67] [Citation(s) in RCA: 130] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2014] [Revised: 06/02/2014] [Accepted: 06/23/2014] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Over the past two decades, substantial knowledge has been attained about the mechanisms underlying the acquisition and subsequent extinction of conditioned fear. Knowledge gained on the biological basis of Pavlovian conditioning has led to the general acceptance that fear extinction may be a useful model in understanding the underlying mechanisms in the pathophysiology of anxiety disorders and may also be a good model for current therapies treating these disorders. Lacking in the current knowledge is how men and women may or may not differ in the biology of fear and its extinction. It is also unclear how the neural correlates of fear extinction may mediate sex differences in the etiology, maintenance, and prevalence of psychiatric disorders. In this review, we begin by highlighting the epidemiological differences in incidence rate. We then discuss how estradiol (E2), a primary gonadal hormone, may modulate the mechanisms of fear extinction and mediate some of the sex differences observed in psychiatric disorders.
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Morán J, Garrido P, Cabello E, Alonso A, González C. Effects of estradiol and genistein on the insulin signaling pathway in the cerebral cortex of aged female rats. Exp Gerontol 2014; 58:104-12. [PMID: 25086228 DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2014.07.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2014] [Revised: 07/04/2014] [Accepted: 07/30/2014] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Menopause leads to a decrease in estrogen production that increases central insulin resistance, contributing to the development of neurodegenerative diseases. We have evaluated the influence of aging and estradiol or genistein treatments on some key stages of the insulin signaling pathway in the cerebral cortex. Young and aged female Wistar rats were ovariectomized and treated acutely with 17β-estradiol (1.4μg/kg body weight), two doses of genistein (10 or 40mg/kg body weight), or vehicle. The cortical expression of several key insulin signaling pathway components was analyzed by western blotting. Our results showed an age-related deterioration in the interactions between the regulatory subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (p85α) and the activated form of insulin receptor substrate 1 (p-IRS1tyr612), as well as between p85α and the 46kDa isoform of the estrogen receptor α (ERα46). Moreover, aging also decreased the translocation of glucose transporter-4 (GLUT4) to the plasma membrane. 17β-Estradiol but not genistein reduced the negative impact of aging on central insulin sensitivity by favoring this GLUT4 translocation, and therefore could be neuroprotective against the associated neurodegenerative diseases. However, protein kinase B (Akt) activation by genistein suggests that other possible mechanisms are involved in the neuroprotective effects of this phytoestrogen during the aging process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javier Morán
- Department of Functional Biology, Physiology Area, University of Oviedo, Av. Julián Clavería, No. 6, 33006 Oviedo, Spain.
| | - Pablo Garrido
- Department of Functional Biology, Physiology Area, University of Oviedo, Av. Julián Clavería, No. 6, 33006 Oviedo, Spain.
| | - Estefanía Cabello
- Department of Functional Biology, Physiology Area, University of Oviedo, Av. Julián Clavería, No. 6, 33006 Oviedo, Spain.
| | - Ana Alonso
- Department of Functional Biology, Physiology Area, University of Oviedo, Av. Julián Clavería, No. 6, 33006 Oviedo, Spain.
| | - Celestino González
- Department of Functional Biology, Physiology Area, University of Oviedo, Av. Julián Clavería, No. 6, 33006 Oviedo, Spain.
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EEG Activity during Viewing of Neutral and Emotionally Colored Pictures by Men and Women with Different Levels of Empathy. NEUROPHYSIOLOGY+ 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/s11062-014-9422-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
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48
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Zubiaurre-Elorza L, Junque C, Gómez-Gil E, Guillamon A. Effects of Cross-Sex Hormone Treatment on Cortical Thickness in Transsexual Individuals. J Sex Med 2014; 11:1248-61. [DOI: 10.1111/jsm.12491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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49
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Soni M, Rahardjo TBW, Soekardi R, Sulistyowati Y, Lestariningsih, Yesufu-Udechuku A, Irsan A, Hogervorst E. Phytoestrogens and cognitive function: a review. Maturitas 2014; 77:209-20. [PMID: 24486046 DOI: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2013.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2013] [Accepted: 12/22/2013] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Neuroprotective effects of phytoestrogen compounds (found in soy) have been demonstrated in animal research and cell culture studies. In particular, phytoestrogens have been shown to reduce Alzheimer's Disease (AD) related pathology, potentially alleviating risk of AD progression. In addition to their antioxidant properties, soy products also have the ability to affect cognition via interaction with estrogen receptors. However, observational studies and randomised controlled trials in humans have resulted in inconclusive findings within this domain. There are several possible reasons for these discrepant data. Studies which report no effect of phytoestrogens on cognition have mainly been carried out in European cohorts, with an average low dietary consumption. In contrast, investigation of Asian populations, with a higher general intake of tofu (a non-fermented soy product) have shown negative associations with cognitive function in those over the age of 65. Consideration of type of soy product is important, as in the latter sample, protective effects of tempe (fermented soy) were also observed. Limited data provide evidence that effects of phytoestrogens on cognition may be modified by dosage, duration of consumption and cognitive test used. Additionally, characteristics of the study population including age, gender, ethnicity and menopausal status appear to be mediating variables. Phytoestrogen treatment interventions have also shown time-limited positive effects on cognition. These findings are consistent with estrogen treatment studies, where initial positive short-term cognitive effects may occur, which reverse with long-term continuous use in elderly women. Well controlled, large scale studies are needed to assess the effects of phytoestrogens on the aging brain and provide further understanding of this association.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mira Soni
- School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, United Kingdom.
| | | | - Rodiyah Soekardi
- Department of Public Health, Respati University Yogyakarta, Indonesia
| | | | - Lestariningsih
- Department of Public Health, Respati University Yogyakarta, Indonesia
| | - Amina Yesufu-Udechuku
- Centre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness, Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, W1CE 4HB, UK
| | - Atik Irsan
- Department of Nutrition, University of Bogor, Bogor Indonesia
| | - Eef Hogervorst
- School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, United Kingdom; Department of Public Health, Respati University Yogyakarta, Indonesia
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50
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Sinclair D, Purves-Tyson TD, Allen KM, Weickert CS. Impacts of stress and sex hormones on dopamine neurotransmission in the adolescent brain. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2014; 231:1581-99. [PMID: 24481565 PMCID: PMC3967083 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-013-3415-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 130] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2013] [Accepted: 12/19/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Adolescence is a developmental period of complex neurobiological change and heightened vulnerability to psychiatric illness. As a result, understanding factors such as sex and stress hormones which drive brain changes in adolescence, and how these factors may influence key neurotransmitter systems implicated in psychiatric illness, is paramount. OBJECTIVES In this review, we outline the impact of sex and stress hormones at adolescence on dopamine neurotransmission, a signaling pathway which is critical to healthy brain function and has been implicated in psychiatric illness. We review normative developmental changes in dopamine, sex hormone, and stress hormone signaling during adolescence and throughout postnatal life, then highlight the interaction of sex and stress hormones and review their impacts on dopamine neurotransmission in the adolescent brain. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Adolescence is a time of increased responsiveness to sex and stress hormones, during which the maturing dopaminergic neural circuitry is profoundly influenced by these factors. Testosterone, estrogen, and glucocorticoids interact with each other and have distinct, brain region-specific impacts on dopamine neurotransmission in the adolescent brain, shaping brain maturation and cognitive function in adolescence and adulthood. Some effects of stress/sex hormones on cortical and subcortical dopamine parameters bear similarities with dopaminergic abnormalities seen in schizophrenia, suggesting a possible role for sex/stress hormones at adolescence in influencing risk for psychiatric illness via modulation of dopamine neurotransmission. Stress and sex hormones may prove useful targets in future strategies for modifying risk for psychiatric illness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duncan Sinclair
- Schizophrenia Research Institute, Sydney, Australia ,Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia ,School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia ,Neuropsychiatric Signaling Program, Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA
| | - Tertia D Purves-Tyson
- Schizophrenia Research Institute, Sydney, Australia ,Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia ,School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Katherine M Allen
- Schizophrenia Research Institute, Sydney, Australia ,Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia ,School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Cynthia Shannon Weickert
- Schizophrenia Research Institute, Sydney, Australia ,Macquarie Group Chair of Schizophrenia Research, Neuroscience Research Australia, Barker Street, Randwick, NSW 2031 Australia ,School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
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