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Harrington YA, Parisi JM, Duan D, Rojo-Wissar DM, Holingue C, Spira AP. Sex Hormones, Sleep, and Memory: Interrelationships Across the Adult Female Lifespan. Front Aging Neurosci 2022; 14:800278. [PMID: 35912083 PMCID: PMC9331168 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.800278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
As the population of older adults grows, so will the prevalence of aging-related conditions, including memory impairments and sleep disturbances, both of which are more common among women. Compared to older men, older women are up to twice as likely to experience sleep disturbances and are at a higher risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). These sex differences may be attributed in part to fluctuations in levels of female sex hormones (i.e., estrogen and progesterone) that occur across the adult female lifespan. Though women tend to experience the most significant sleep and memory problems during the peri-menopausal period, changes in memory and sleep have also been observed across the menstrual cycle and during pregnancy. Here, we review current knowledge on the interrelationships among female sex hormones, sleep, and memory across the female lifespan, propose possible mediating and moderating mechanisms linking these variables and describe implications for ADRD risk in later life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasmin A. Harrington
- Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Jeanine M. Parisi
- Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Daisy Duan
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Darlynn M. Rojo-Wissar
- The Initiative on Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR), Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine, The Miriam Hospital, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
| | - Calliope Holingue
- Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
- Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Adam P. Spira
- Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
- Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
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Rehbein E, Kogler L, Kotikalapudi R, Sattler A, Krylova M, Kagan KO, Sundström-Poromaa I, Derntl B. Pregnancy and brain architecture: Associations with hormones, cognition and affect. J Neuroendocrinol 2022; 34:e13066. [PMID: 35014110 DOI: 10.1111/jne.13066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Revised: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 11/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Sex hormones such as estradiol (E2) have long-lasting influence on brain architecture. Recent studies indicate further structural changes during hormonal transition periods including pregnancy, when women experience the greatest increase in sex hormone levels across their life span. In the present study, three groups of women (n = 44) with different levels of E2 underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging: (1) first-time pregnant women (n = 13, 'extreme E2 group'); (2), nulliparous, naturally cycling women who received 12 mg of E2 valerate (n = 16, 'high E2 group'); and (3) nulliparous, naturally cycling women receiving a placebo and hence low E2 (n = 15, 'low E2 group'). Blood samples were taken to assess hormonal levels. Moreover, parameters for cognition, emotion regulation and affect were assessed. On the neuronal level, the extreme E2 compared to the high E2 group showed a reduced gray matter volume in the left putamen. However, no significant differences were found between the low vs. high E2 groups, nor between the low E2 and extreme E2 groups. Cognitive performance was reduced in the extreme E2 group, although a positive affect was increased compared to the high E2 and low E2 groups. Furthermore, regression analyses revealed several associations between cognition, subjective measures of affect, emotion regulation and gray matter volume. A volume reduction of the left putamen during pregnancy further supports the notion that the female brain is shaped by hormonal transition phases, possibly preparing women for their future roles (e.g., pregnant women for their role as mothers).
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Rehbein
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Innovative Neuroimaging, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Lydia Kogler
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Innovative Neuroimaging, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | | | - Anna Sattler
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Innovative Neuroimaging, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Marina Krylova
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Jena, Jena, Germany
- Medical Physics Group, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Jena University Hospital - Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Karl Oliver Kagan
- Department of Women's Health, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | | | - Birgit Derntl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Innovative Neuroimaging, Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Lead Graduate School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Zinke K, Lehnert V, Fritsche A, Preissl H, Hallschmid M. Pregnant women do not display impaired memory formation across one night of sleep. J Sleep Res 2020; 30:e13204. [PMID: 32985760 DOI: 10.1111/jsr.13204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2020] [Revised: 09/01/2020] [Accepted: 09/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Forgetfulness is a common complaint of pregnant women, who also often report impaired nocturnal sleep. Considering sleep's well-known beneficial role in consolidating newly encoded memory content, we hypothesized that pregnant women would display detrimental changes in objective sleep measures and associated memory deficits. We compared the consolidation of declarative as well as procedural memory across sleep in 21 healthy, third-trimester pregnant women versus 20 matched non-pregnant controls. Subjects encoded and were tested on visuospatial and procedural memory tasks before and after, respectively, a night of sleep spent at home. The emergence of gist-based memories was tested with the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm. Sleep was polysomnographically recorded and subjective sleep quality was assessed with questionnaires. Although pregnant in comparison to non-pregnant women reported markedly impaired subjective sleep quality and efficiency, quantitative changes were limited to increases in wakefulness after sleep onset and reductions in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Retention of newly learned memory contents, which is believed to reflect sleep-associated memory consolidation, was comparable between groups, as was the formation of gist-based memories. The findings indicate that subjective deteriorations in sleep quality experienced by pregnant women are not necessarily linked to objective impairments. They raise the possibility that sufficient slow wave sleep towards the end of pregnancy allows for normal sleep-related memory consolidation. Although these results were obtained in a small number of pregnant women in very good health and should be corroborated in larger samples, they challenge the assumption of poor sleep and impaired memory as hallmarks of the "pregnancy brain".
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Zinke
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioural Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Vanessa Lehnert
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioural Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Andreas Fritsche
- German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Tübingen, Germany.,Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases, Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Division of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Hubert Preissl
- German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Tübingen, Germany.,Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases, Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, Interfaculty Centre for Pharmacogenomics and Pharma Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Manfred Hallschmid
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioural Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Tübingen, Germany.,Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases, Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Ouellette SJ, Hampson E. Memory and affective changes during the antepartum: A narrative review and integrative hypothesis. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 2018; 41:87-107. [DOI: 10.1080/13803395.2018.1485881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah J. Ouellette
- Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Elizabeth Hampson
- Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
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Davies SJ, Lum JAG, Skouteris H, Byrne LK, Hayden MJ. Cognitive impairment during pregnancy: a meta‐analysis. Med J Aust 2018; 208:35-40. [DOI: 10.5694/mja17.00131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2017] [Accepted: 07/25/2017] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
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Berndt C, Diekelmann S, Alexander N, Pustal A, Kirschbaum C. Sleep fragmentation and false memories during pregnancy and motherhood. Behav Brain Res 2014; 266:52-7. [PMID: 24589545 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2014.02.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2013] [Revised: 02/17/2014] [Accepted: 02/19/2014] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Pregnant women, both before and after childbirth, frequently experience memory deficits and disrupted sleep. In the present study we assessed the relationship between false memory generation and fragmented sleep during pregnancy and motherhood. We tested 178 pregnant women and 58 female non-pregnant childless controls, during pregnancy (15-35th week of gestation) and again after childbirth (8-13th month). False memories were defined as memories of gist words that were semantically related to studied word lists but were not presented during learning of these lists in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm. Sleep was monitored by actigraphy in the home environment for seven consecutive nights. Compared to the controls, the group of pregnant women produced more false memories and displayed more fragmented sleep both during pregnancy and after childbirth. However, false memory generation was not correlated to measures of sleep fragmentation. These results show that pregnant women suffer from sleep fragmentation and a higher susceptibility to false memories, but leave open the question as to whether both phenomena are related.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christiane Berndt
- Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, D-01062 Dresden, Germany.
| | - Susanne Diekelmann
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, Universität Tübingen, D-72074 Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Nina Alexander
- Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, D-01062 Dresden, Germany.
| | - Anne Pustal
- Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, D-01062 Dresden, Germany.
| | - Clemens Kirschbaum
- Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, D-01062 Dresden, Germany.
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