Sex hormones and cognitive function

Abstract Endogenous estrogen is considered to be protective against cognitive dysfunction. However, clinical trials examining the efficacy of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in postmenopausal women showed rather deteriorating effects of HRT on cognitive function and dementia, resulting in the recommendation of no use of HRT for the prevention of dementia. By contrast, recent advances in androgen research have suggested the effects of androgen on cognitive function in older men with mild cognitive impairment, pending the mechanistic clarification and clinical trials. Also, the protective role of androgen in cognitive and physical function in older women has been highlighted. Recent topics on the relationship between sex hormones and cognitive function were overviewed in this paper.