Estrogens and Memory: Basic Research and Clinical Implications

Estrogens are key modulators of brain regions that mediate learning and memory formation. This regulation has significant translational implications, as estrogens contribute to age-related memory decline and dementia, emotional disorders, addiction, and recovery from brain injury. Although the importance of estrogens for memory formation has been well accepted within the behavioral neuroendocrinology community, it has yet to be fully appreciated by neuroscientists outside of the discipline.

Recent National Institutes of Health policies on the inclusion of sex as a biological variable in grant applications will force thousands of researchers to consider hormonal regulation of memory for the first time. However, the majority of these researchers are not trained endocrinologists, and no previous monograph comprehensively encompasses the breadth of basic and clinical research on this subject. Thus, this book provides a vital resource for non-endocrinologists and endocrinologists alike.

Estrogens and Memory: Basic Research and Clinical Implications provides a compendium of cutting-edge basic and clinical research describing the ways in which estrogens regulate memory in a variety of species. Chapters are written by leading experts whose work is on the forefront of this exciting field. Three fundamental discussions focus on: effects of estrogens on the hippocampus and other brain regions central to memory, effects of estrogens on memory and related cognitive processes throughout the lifespan, and translational implications of estrogenic regulation of memory for aging and disease.

Dr. Frick is a behavioral neuroscientist and neuroendocrinologist. She is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and an Adjunct Professor of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at the Medical College of Wisconsin.