scholarly journals Estrogen receptors and the aging brain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Maioli ◽  
Karin Leander ◽  
Per Nilsson ◽  
Ivan Nalvarte
Keyword(s):  
Estrogen Receptors ◽  
Sex Hormones ◽  
Neural Differentiation ◽  
Estrogen Receptor Alpha ◽  
Cholesterol Metabolism ◽  
Aging Brain ◽  
Receptor Subtype ◽  
Downstream Effectors ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The Brain

Abstract The female sex hormone estrogen has been ascribed potent neuroprotective properties. It signals by binding and activating estrogen receptors that, depending on receptor subtype and upstream or downstream effectors, can mediate gene transcription and rapid non-genomic actions. In this way, estrogen receptors in the brain participate in modulating neural differentiation, proliferation, neuroinflammation, cholesterol metabolism, synaptic plasticity, and behavior. Circulating sex hormones decrease in the course of aging, more rapidly at menopause in women, and slower in men. This review will discuss what this drop entails in terms of modulating neuroprotection and resilience in the aging brain downstream of spatiotemporal estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and beta (ERβ) signaling, as well as in terms of the sex differences observed in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). In addition, controversies related to ER expression in the brain will be discussed. Understanding the spatiotemporal signaling of sex hormones in the brain can lead to more personalized prevention strategies or therapies combating neurodegenerative diseases.

Estrogen Receptor Distribution in the Hippocampus and Prefrontal Cortex

2020 ◽  
pp. 11-23
Author(s):  
Annelyn Torres-Reveron ◽  
Wayne G. Brake ◽  
Teresa A. Milner
Keyword(s):  
Estrogen Receptor ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Estrogen Receptors ◽  
Estrogen Receptor Alpha ◽  
Estrogen Receptor Beta ◽  
Cognitive Behaviors ◽  
G Protein Coupled ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Anatomical Evidence ◽  
Estrogen Receptor 1

This chapter presents anatomical evidence for the distribution of estrogen receptors in the brain. First, the chapter presents a brief discussion of the historical findings that led to the discovery of nuclear and extranuclear estrogen receptors in the brain. A distribution pattern for each one of the receptors, estrogen receptor alpha (ERα‎), estrogen receptor beta (ERβ‎), and G-protein coupled estrogen receptor 1 (GPER1), is presented in sequential subsections. The discussion focuses on the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex areas, as these are largely involved in memory and cognitive behaviors, further discussed in other chapters in this book. In addition, co-localization studies with other neurotransmitter systems and molecules important for the functional activity of estrogen receptors is reviewed.

scholarly journals Functional reorganization of brain networks across the human menstrual cycle

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Pritschet ◽  
Tyler Santander ◽  
Caitlin M. Taylor ◽  
Evan Layher ◽  
Shuying Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Menstrual Cycle ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Estrogen Receptors ◽  
Sex Hormones ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
List Type ◽  
Functional Architecture ◽  
Human Menstrual Cycle ◽  
The Brain

AbstractThe brain is an endocrine organ, sensitive to the rhythmic changes in sex hormone production that occurs in most mammalian species. In rodents and nonhuman primates, estrogen and progesterone’s impact on the brain is evident across a range of spatiotemporal scales. Yet, the influence of sex hormones on the functional architecture of the human brain is largely unknown. In this dense-sampling, deep phenotyping study, we examine the extent to which endogenous fluctuations in sex hormones alter intrinsic brain networks at rest in a woman who underwent brain imaging and venipuncture for 30 consecutive days. Standardized regression analyses illustrate estrogen and progesterone’s widespread associations with functional connectivity. Time-lagged analyses examined the temporal directionality of these relationships and suggest that cortical network dynamics (particularly in the Default Mode and Dorsal Attention Networks, whose hubs are densely populated with estrogen receptors) are preceded—and perhaps driven—by hormonal fluctuations. A similar pattern of associations was observed in a follow-up study one year later. Together, these results reveal the rhythmic nature in which brain networks reorganize across the human menstrual cycle. Neuroimaging studies that densely sample the individual connectome have begun to transform our understanding of the brain’s functional organization. As these results indicate, taking endocrine factors into account is critical for fully understanding the intrinsic dynamics of the human brain.HighlightsIntrinsic fluctuations in sex hormones shape the brain’s functional architecture.Estradiol facilitates tighter coherence within whole-brain functional networks.Progesterone has the opposite, reductive effect.Ovulation (via estradiol) modulates variation in topological network states.Effects are pronounced in network hubs densely populated with estrogen receptors.

scholarly journals The Aging Brain Cohort (ABC) repository: The University of South Carolina’s multimodal lifespan database for studying the relationship between the brain, cognition, genetics and behavior in healthy aging

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 100008
Author(s):  
Roger D. Newman-Norlund ◽  
Sarah E. Newman-Norlund ◽  
Sara Sayers ◽  
Samaneh Nemati ◽  
Nicholas Riccardi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Aging Brain ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain

Invited Review: Estrogens effects on the brain: multiple sites and molecular mechanisms

2001 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 2785-2801 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce S. McEwen
Keyword(s):  
Estrogen Receptors ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Nerve Cells ◽  
Fine Motor ◽  
Aging Brain ◽  
Cell Nuclei ◽  
Neuroprotective Effects ◽  
Pain Mechanisms ◽  
The Brain

Besides their well-established actions on reproductive functions, estrogens exert a variety of actions on many regions of the nervous system that influence higher cognitive function, pain mechanisms, fine motor skills, mood, and susceptibility to seizures; they also appear to have neuroprotective actions in relation to stroke damage and Alzheimer's disease. Estrogen actions are now recognized to occur via two different intracellular estrogen receptors, ER-α and ER-β, that reside in the cell nuclei of some nerve cells, as well as by some less well-characterized mechanisms. In the hippocampus, such nerve cells are sparse in number and yet appear to exert a powerful influence on synapse formation by neurons that do not have high levels of nuclear estrogen receptors. However, we also find nonnuclear estrogen receptors outside of the cell nuclei in dendrites, presynaptic terminals, and glial cells, where estrogen receptors may couple to second messenger systems to regulate a variety of cellular events and signal to the nuclear via transcriptional regulators such as CREB. Sex differences exist in many of the actions of estrogens in the brain, and the process of sexual differentiation appears to affect many brain regions outside of the traditional brain areas involved in reproductive functions. Finally, the aging brain is responsive to actions of estrogens, which have neuroprotective effects both in vivo and in vitro. However, in an animal model, the actions of estrogens on the hippocampus appear to be somewhat attenuated with age. In the future, estrogen actions over puberty and in pregnancy and lactation should be further explored and should be studied in both the hypothalamus and the extrahypothalamic regions.

Review of Self-regulation of the Brain and Behavior.

1985 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 999-999
Author(s):  
Gerald S. Wasserman
Keyword(s):  
Self Regulation ◽  
Brain And Behavior ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The Brain

Individual Uniqueness in the Neonatal Functional Connectome

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiushi Wang ◽  
Yuehua Xu ◽  
Tengda Zhao ◽  
Zhilei Xu ◽  
Yong He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Individual Identification ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Functional Connectome ◽  
Middle Range ◽  
Human Connectome Project ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Identification Analysis ◽  
The Brain

Abstract The functional connectome is highly distinctive in adults and adolescents, underlying individual differences in cognition and behavior. However, it remains unknown whether the individual uniqueness of the functional connectome is present in neonates, who are far from mature. Here, we utilized the multiband resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 40 healthy neonates from the Developing Human Connectome Project and a split-half analysis approach to characterize the uniqueness of the functional connectome in the neonatal brain. Through functional connectome-based individual identification analysis, we found that all the neonates were correctly identified, with the most discriminative regions predominantly confined to the higher-order cortices (e.g., prefrontal and parietal regions). The connectivities with the highest contributions to individual uniqueness were primarily located between different functional systems, and the short- (0–30 mm) and middle-range (30–60 mm) connectivities were more distinctive than the long-range (>60 mm) connectivities. Interestingly, we found that functional data with a scanning length longer than 3.5 min were able to capture the individual uniqueness in the functional connectome. Our results highlight that individual uniqueness is present in the functional connectome of neonates and provide insights into the brain mechanisms underlying individual differences in cognition and behavior later in life.

scholarly journals Crosstalk between Existential Phenomenological Psychotherapy and Neurological Sciences in Mood and Anxiety Disorders

Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 340
Author(s):  
Lehel Balogh ◽  
Masaru Tanaka ◽  
Nóra Török ◽  
László Vécsei ◽  
Shigeru Taguchi
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Biological Treatment ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Neurological Damage ◽  
Mood And Anxiety Disorders ◽  
New Interpretation ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Brain

Psychotherapy is a comprehensive biological treatment modifying complex underlying cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and regulatory responses in the brain, leading patients with mental illness to a new interpretation of the sense of self and others. Psychotherapy is an art of science integrated with psychology and/or philosophy. Neurological sciences study the neurological basis of cognition, memory, and behavior as well as the impact of neurological damage and disease on these functions, and their treatment. Both psychotherapy and neurological sciences deal with the brain; nevertheless, they continue to stay polarized. Existential phenomenological psychotherapy (EPP) has been in the forefront of meaning-centered counseling for almost a century. The phenomenological approach in psychotherapy originated in the works of Martin Heidegger, Ludwig Binswanger, Medard Boss, and Viktor Frankl, and it has been committed to accounting for the existential possibilities and limitations of one’s life. EPP provides philosophically rich interpretations and empowers counseling techniques to assist mentally suffering individuals by finding meaning and purpose to life. The approach has proven to be effective in treating mood and anxiety disorders. This narrative review article demonstrates the development of EPP, the therapeutic methodology, evidence-based accounts of its curative techniques, current understanding of mood and anxiety disorders in neurological sciences, and a possible converging path to translate and integrate meaning-centered psychotherapy and neuroscience, concluding that the EPP may potentially play a synergistic role with the currently prevailing medication-based approaches for the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders.

scholarly journals Resilience, plasticity and robustness in gene expression during aging in the brain of outbred deer mice

BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
E Soltanmohammadi ◽  
Y Zhang ◽  
I Chatzistamou ◽  
H. Kiaris
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Cholesterol Metabolism ◽  
Expression Profiles ◽  
Deer Mice ◽  
Abrupt Changes ◽  
Transcriptional Changes ◽  
Thrombospondin 4 ◽  
Whole Transcriptome ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract Background Genes that belong to the same network are frequently co-expressed, but collectively, how the coordination of the whole transcriptome is perturbed during aging remains unclear. To explore this, we calculated the correlation of each gene in the transcriptome with every other, in the brain of young and older outbred deer mice (P. leucopus and P. maniculatus). Results In about 25 % of the genes, coordination was inversed during aging. Gene Ontology analysis in both species, for the genes that exhibited inverse transcriptomic coordination during aging pointed to alterations in the perception of smell, a known impairment occurring during aging. In P. leucopus, alterations in genes related to cholesterol metabolism were also identified. Among the genes that exhibited the most pronounced inversion in their coordination profiles during aging was THBS4, that encodes for thrombospondin-4, a protein that was recently identified as rejuvenation factor in mice. Relatively to its breadth, abolishment of coordination was more prominent in the long-living P. leucopus than in P. maniculatus but in the latter, the intensity of de-coordination was higher. Conclusions There sults suggest that aging is associated with more stringent retention of expression profiles for some genes and more abrupt changes in others, while more subtle but widespread changes in gene expression appear protective. Our findings shed light in the mode of the transcriptional changes occurring in the brain during aging and suggest that strategies aiming to broader but more modest changes in gene expression may be preferrable to correct aging-associated deregulation in gene expression.

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