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The Journal of Neuroscience, August 19, 2009, 29(33):10362-10370; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1591-09.2009

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Executive Function and Attention Are Preserved in Older Surgically Menopausal Monkeys Receiving Estrogen or Estrogen Plus Progesterone

Mary Lou Voytko,^1,2 Rhonda Murray,¹ and Casey J. Higgs¹

¹Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy and ²Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157

Correspondence should be addressed to Mary Lou Voytko, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157. Email: mlvoytko{at}wfubmc.edu

Animal models of menopause have been used to further define the cognitive processes that respond to hormone therapy and to investigate parameters that may influence the cognitive effects of estrogen. Many investigations in animals have focused on memory; however, the effects of hormone therapy on executive function and attention processes have not been well studied. Thus, the purpose of this set of investigations was to assess the effects of estrogen therapy alone or with progesterone on executive and attention processes in middle-aged ovariectomized monkeys. Monkeys were preoperatively trained on a modified version of the Wisconsin card sort task and on a visual cued reaction time task. Hormone therapy was initiated at the time of ovariectomy and cognitive function was reassessed at 2, 12, and 24 weeks postoperatively. Relative to monkeys receiving either of the estrogen therapies, monkeys receiving placebo were impaired in their ability to shift a cognitive set in the Wisconsin card sort task and were impaired in shifting visuospatial attention in the visual cued reaction time task. Our findings are consistent with clinical studies that indicate that hormone therapy can improve executive function and attention processes in postmenopausal women.

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Received April 2, 2009; revised June 17, 2009; accepted July 22, 2009.

Correspondence should be addressed to Mary Lou Voytko, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157. Email: mlvoytko{at}wfubmc.edu

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