Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Mar;57(3):352-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.01.004. Epub 2010 Jan 15.

Sex steroid hormones and cognitive functioning in healthy, older men

Rose H Matousek  1 , Barbara B Sherwin
Affiliations

Sex steroid hormones and cognitive functioning in healthy, older men

Rose H Matousek et al. Horm Behav. 2010 Mar.

Abstract

The precise impact of age-related changes in hormone levels on cognition in men is still unclear due to differing study designs and contradictory findings. This study was undertaken to examine the relationship between endogenous sex hormone levels and cognitive functioning in healthy older men using a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests and measurement of serum sex hormone levels. Verbal learning and memory, visual-motor processing, spatial abilities, working memory and attention, and levels of testosterone and estradiol were evaluated in 54 healthy older men. Regression analyses revealed significant curvilinear associations between working memory function and both free and bioavailable testosterone levels, suggesting that an optimal hormone level may exist for maximal performance on tasks of executive/frontal lobe functioning. However, no other relationships were evident between either estradiol or testosterone levels and any of the other cognitive functions evaluated. Hormone assays performed at the end of the study revealed that a considerable portion of the healthy elderly men in our sample met criteria for hypogonadism and suggests that their low hormone levels may have mitigated against discovering other significant hormone-cognition relationships.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Alibhai SMH, Mahmoud S, Hussain F, Nagalie G, Tannock I, Tomlinson G, Fleshner N, Krahn M, Warde P, Klotz L, Breunis H, Leach M, Canning SD. Levels of sex hormones have limited effect on cognition in older men with or without prostate cancer. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2009;73:167–175. - PubMed
    1. Anderton BH. Ageing of the brain. Mech Ageing Dev. 2002;123:811–817. - PubMed
    1. Beck A, Steer R. Patent No. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation; 1993.
    1. Bhasin S, Woodhouse L, Casaburi R, Singh AB, Bhasin D, Berman N, Chen X, Yarasheski KE, Magliano L, Dzekov C, Dzekov J, Bross R, Phillips J, Sinha-Hikim I, Shen R, Storer TW. Testosterone dose–response relationships in healthy young men. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2001;281:E1172–E1181. - PubMed
    1. Braunstein M. The testes. In: Greenspan F, Forsham P, editors. Basic and Clinical Endocrinology. Appleton-Century-Crofts; Connecticut: 1994.

Publication types