cognitive & neurological health

Female brain  function, brain volume and brain signaling are all influenced by the presence of estrogen and progesterone, and this fact has yet to be incorporated into women's healthcare.  According to Dr. Adreniene Beltz and Dr. Jason Moser "Cognitive neuroscience has traditionally overlooked half of the population," which has lead to "a knowledge gap in the role of ovarian hormones in neuroscience."  

 A preponderance of mid-life hormonal changes drastically impact the dynamic mantle of a woman's neurological integrity.  This occurs regardless of a woman's race, ethnicity or nationality.  Some women are more phenotypically predisposed to experience notable effects.   

Extensive estrogen receptor mapping work in translational neurobiology has provided a working model of estrogen-dependent neurophysiological functions in women. 

• pre-frontal cortex (executive functions, learning); 
• amygdala (emotional interpretation, motivation); 
• hippocampus (short-term memory); 
• hypothalamus (circadian rhythm, sleep, temperature regulation, appetite control); 
• thalamus (sensory input interpretation);  
• raphe nucleus (mood, serotonergic system), 
• posterior cingulate  (default mode network);  
• adrenergic system (attention, arousal & anxiety).