Natalie L. Rasgon

Publication Details

• Estrogen use and brain metabolic change in older adults. A preliminary report.

  Rasgon NL, Small GW, Siddarth P, Miller K, Ercoli LM, Bookheimer SY, Lavretsky H, Huang SC, Barrio JR, Phelps ME. Psychiatry Res. 2001; 107 (1): 11-8

  Because estrogen may influence brain blood flow and metabolism in older adults, we used positron emission tomography to evaluate cerebral glucose metabolic change in post-menopausal women and men. Women estrogen users (n=4), women non-users (n=8) and men (n=10) were scanned at baseline and two years later. Analyses focused on glucose metabolism in lateral temporal, inferior parietal and posterior cingulate brain regions, previously reported to decline in non-demented older persons. No metabolic differences in cerebral regions of interest were found among groups at baseline. At follow-up, women estrogen users showed significantly increased glucose metabolism in the lateral temporal region, whereas women non-users and men exhibited no significant metabolic change in this region. These findings suggest that estrogen use may protect against regional cerebral metabolic decline in postmenopausal women.

  PubMedID: 11472860