Estrogen treatment increases brain activity in mature adults

In a study of 46 postmenopausal women, Yale researchers found that estrogen therapy stimulated activity in areas of the brain that deal with the type of short-term memory used in common, everyday tasks. “It is significant that there was a change,” said Sally E. Shaywitz, M.D., leader of the study and professor of pediatrics and in the Child Study Center. “It shows that there is flexibility in the neural circuitry in mature adults.”The study, she said, suggests that estrogen affects brain organization for memory in postmenopausal women. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in April.