Case-control study, 2000
How does estrogen affect thinking and brain performance?
When estrogen is high, women with psychosis performed worse on a fine motor test, but normal women did not improve. This suggests estrogen affects the brain differently in women with psychosis.
What they did
Tested 31 normal women and 29 women with psychosis twice, two weeks apart, on thinking and motor tests during low-estrogen and high-estrogen phases of the menstrual cycle.
What they found
Both groups performed better on mental rotation and attention tests during low estrogen. During high estrogen, normal women showed no improvement on fine motor tasks, but women with psychosis performed significantly worse on the Purdue Pegboard test.
What it means for you
High estrogen may impair motor performance in women with psychosis. This is a very small study, so results may not generalize. The mechanism is unclear.
31
Normal women tested
29
Women with psychosis tested
2 weeks
Time between tests
About the study
- Original title
- Estrogen affects cognition in women with psychosis
- Authors
- Thompson K, Sergejew A, Kulkarni J
- Journal
- Psychiatry research
- Year
- 2000
- Study design
- Case-control study
- Participants
- 31
- What was tested
- None - observation of menstrual cycle phases
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/s0165-1781(00)00161-x
Topics
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