Estrogens as neuroprotectants: Estrogenic actions in the context of cognitive aging and brain injury.

ABSTRACT: There is ample empirical evidence to support the notion that the biological impacts of estrogen extend beyond the gonads to other bodily systems, including the brain and behavior. Converging preclinical findings have indicated a neuroprotective role for estrogen in a variety of experimental models of cognitive function and brain insult. However, the surprising null or even detrimental findings of several large clinical trials evaluating the ability of estrogen-containing hormone treatments to protect against age-related brain changes and insults, including cognitive aging and brain injury, led to hesitation by both clinicians and patients in the use of exogenous estrogenic treatments for nervous system outcomes. That estrogen-containing therapies are used by tens of millions of women for a

SUBMITTER: Engler-Chiurazzi EB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4985492 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature