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.
Understanding the role of estrogens in mediating memory is key to elucidating critical questions of human health such as: How are estrogens involved in the memory aspects of neuropsychiatric disorders? Are those memory circuits established before birth? What are the underlying causes of Alzheimer's disease in women? Can estrogens be used therapeutically to maintain memory function as we age? This outstanding compendium of research from scientists at the cutting edge of estrogen research provides the tools to think about all of these important questions and more. Organized to present a translational and trans-species perspective, it moves from the molecular to the behavioral as it presents a lucid and deep exposition of current knowledge that will inspire and underscore estrogens' key role in memory, one of the essential attributes that make us human."
