The Relationship of Estrogen and Performance on Memory Tasks in Men and Women Ages 20 to 35.

Erica Alleman and Michelle R. Groncki (Dr. Lauren Fowler), Psychology Department, Weber State University, Ogden, UT 84408-1202.

This study examined the relationship of estrogen levels and performance on memory tasks in a young adult population. Numerous studies have assessed the relationship between estrogen levels and memory in postmenopausal women, as well as the relationship between testosterone levels and memory in postandropausal men. Most studies show a strong correlation between sex hormones and memory in older men and women. The lower the estrogen or testosterone levels, the poorer the performance on memory tasks. But these studies failed to address the relationship between sex hormones and memory in younger adults. This study’s participants were 19 young adults, ages 20 to 35, which were tested twice over a 4-week period. Women were scheduled according to phase in their menstrual cycle, while men were tested two weeks apart to determine if they were more similar to low- or high- estrogen women. Short-term verbal memory and spatial memory were assessed at each testing session. A multivariate, factorial analysis indicated that, contrary to previous findings, estrogen levels had no impact on memory performance, regardless of gender. These findings suggest that estrogen’s effect on memory may be a factor of advanced age, perhaps due to the loss of estrogen’s activational properties.