Chronic exposure to estrogen impairs some cognitive functions

[Natasha]

Chronic exposure to estrogen impairs some cognitive functions

http://www.news-medical.net/?id=40465
8/3/2008

University of Illinois researchers report this week that chronic
exposure to estradiol, the main estrogen in the body, diminishes some
cognitive functions. Rats exposed to a steady dose of estradiol were
impaired on tasks involving working memory and response inhibition,
the researchers found.

[Aiden]

Have wondered sometimes if I had some kind of hormonal imballance or something lol... considering how I develped, my memory and emotinal difficulty and such.  but of course can be anything

[Keira]

First, what level are they talking about?
Animal testing is usually done at way higher levels than physiological
human levels to prove a point. Too low a level in testing may not
reveal the effect for example.

[Janet_Girl]

Ah, I am sorry what were we talking about? 

>
Mistress Janet

[tekla]

Well....

on second though, I'm not even going to go there.

[Lisbeth]

What bothers me about this kind of research is what would motivate someone to look at this in the first place?  Is this supposed to feed the stereotype that women are not as intelligent as men?  *raises eyebrow*

Lisbeth

[Keira]

Irs possible that its not the research that's the issue, but
its interpretation. The press often sensasionalize results from
research beyond their original conclusions.

Its well known that estrogen diminishes certain cognitive functions
even in humans, namely those relating to spatial awareness,
but the effect is not uniform. Many women have higher spatial
awareness than many men. But, on  ** average **, men have a
better spatial awareness than women, mostly due to the
effect of estrogen and testosterone on the brain (they're not sure
what mechanism in the brain causes this).

Estrogen also increases
verbal skills, which they posit is an effect of increase connection
between hemispheres.

This positive effect of estrogen, would be much harder to test on rats
than the loss of spatial awareness which can be tested in a simple maze.

[Mnemosyne]

There have already been studies on humans about the impact of cross gender hormones and it came to the same conclusion. I really need to dig out all of the articles I had photocopied (and highlighted and dog eared).

[Lisbeth]

Ah but they're saying it impacts memory, not just spacial abilities.  I know of no proof that women have more trouble with memory than men do.  And how much of that difference in spacial ability is socialized?

[tekla]

I don't think that they are talking about natural levels, but rather cross gender administration.  And there are studies that do demonstrate that men have a slight advantage in spacial ability.  There are studies in other areas that seem to suggest that men are more visual in their cognitive ability where women are more verbal.

[NicholeW.]

Ah but they're saying it impacts memory, not just spacial abilities.  I know of no proof that women have more trouble with memory than men do.  And how much of that difference in spacial ability is socialized?

Probably not all that much anymore. It was more specific to hunter/gatherer societies. Women tend to have a better overall "field" capacity: we see distinctions in a field, good for eyeing plants that might be useful on the march etc. Guys tend to focus on one item in the field better, especially at distance, a kind of zoom-focus that was good for eyeing a target of opportunity on the hunt.

How does that play out today? I have no clue. Ummmm, women are better at "playing the field" and men focus-in on one target of opportunity at a time? >


O, yes, men do tend to have a larger brain-size overall, but I think that the differences have mostly to do with relative size. Wiring is a bit diferent in a couple of ways. 1) agency & community 2) visual cognition/liguistic cognition.


Nichole

[tekla]

Tradition is often the answer for a question we have forgot.

[Lisbeth]

O, yes, men do tend to have a larger brain-size overall, but I think that the differences have mostly to do with relative size.

Relative to total body mass, women have larger brains.

[Keira]

Spatial ability, say ability to manipulate shapes in your head, has been proven at all
ages post puberty to be gender related. Its no a socialized skill. Every study
has demonstrated this.

This difference is significant ON AVERAGE (meaning, there are plenty of women
who have better skills than men).

There are other cross gender differences, but those other are usually a lot less
significant statistically than that one. Meaning, there difference are very slight
and may or may not have a real world impact.

[tekla]

I would tend to agree that its an innate skill, not a social one.  Socialized skills can be overcome with training, but things like spatial ability, be it reading blueprints or mechanical ability has, in my experience, been something that people either 'see' or don't, and if you don't 'see' it, no amount of training can overcome it.

[Aiden]

Spatial ability?   Is that like having a good ability to judge distance?   (despite being blind as a bat without glasses lol)

[tekla]

Judging distances is just one part of it.  Being able to look into a box of bolts and know which is the size you are looking for is another, or the ability to visualize what a structure looks like in 3-D by looking at a 2-D blueprint.  Or to look at an exploded drawing and see how it goes together and works. 

One classic test is showing a picture of a box laid out with solid and dotted lines and having to determine what the box looks like when its folded correctly.

[Ell]

I've often wondered about brain size.

tiny little ants appear to be smarter than most other insects.
i have a very small dog, and she is just as smart as any dog i've ever seen.
also, squirrels are grouped among the smartest of animals.
and parrots, for heaven sakes, have personalities...

-Ell

[tekla]

parrots, for heaven sakes, have personalities...
And yet, so many people don't.  Go figure.

[Aiden]

parrots, for heaven sakes, have personalities...
And yet, so many people don't.  Go figure.

LOL  yeh