Language performance in postmenopausal women with and without hormone therapy and men

Grace J Lee; Ashley R Curiel; Karen J Miller; Stacy Amano; Richard Gorsuch; Gary W Small

doi:10.2217/ahe.12.66

Language performance in postmenopausal women with and without hormone therapy and men

Aging health. 2012;8(6):625-632. doi: 10.2217/ahe.12.66.

Authors

Grace J Lee¹, Ashley R Curiel², Karen J Miller³, Stacy Amano⁴, Richard Gorsuch⁴, Gary W Small³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA.
² Pepperdine University, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA.
³ Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA ; Longevity Center Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA.
⁴ Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA, USA.

Abstract

Aims: In the current study, we explored the potential effects of hormone therapy (HT) on language functioning in healthy, postmenopausal women and compared them with men of similar ages.

Materials & methods: Language functioning on tasks of verbal fluency and object naming was examined in 100 participants (mean age: 61.9 years; 33 HT users, 15 HT non-users and 52 men) at baseline and follow-up (mean follow-up time period: 2.6 years).

Results: At baseline, men had higher composite language scores than HT users. However, HT users demonstrated more improvement over time compared with men, whereas HT non-users performed similarly to men, with no improvement over time. Longer duration of HT use was not associated with improved performance on language tests.

Conclusion: These results suggest an association between HT use and better language ability in postmenopausal women.

Keywords: cognitive decline; estrogen; hormone therapy; language functioning; postmenopausal women.

Abstract

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