Effect of Ovarian Hormone Therapy on Cognition in the Aged Female Rhesus Macaque
10416 • The Journal of Neuroscience, October 5, 2016 • 36(40):10416–10424 Behavioral/Cognitive Effect of Ovarian Hormone Therapy on Cognition in the Aged Female Rhesus Macaque Steven G. Kohama,1 XLauren Renner,1 Noelle Landauer,1 XAlison R. Weiss,2 Henryk F. Urbanski,1,3 XByung Park,4 Mary Lou Voytko,5 and Martha Neuringer1 1Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, Oregon 97006-3448, 2Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, 3Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239-3098, 4School of Public Health, Oregon Health and Science University and Portland State University, Portland, Oregon 97239-3098, and 5Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy and the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157-1010 Studiesoftheeffectofhormonetherapyoncognitivefunctioninmenopausalwomenhavebeenequivocal,inpartduetodifferencesinthe type and timing of hormone treatment. Here we cognitively tested aged female rhesus macaques on (1) the delayed response task of spatial working memory, (2) a visuospatial attention task that measured spatially and temporally cued reaction times, and (3) a simple reaction time task as a control for motor speed. After task acquisition, animals were ovariectomized (OVX). Their performance was compared with intact controls for 2 months, at which time no group differences were found. The OVX animals were then assigned to treatment with either a subcutaneous sham implant (OVX), 17- estradiol (E) implant (OVXϩE) or E implant plus cyclic oral proges- terone (OVXϩEP). All groups were then tested repeatedly over 12 months. The OVXϩE animals performed significantly better on the delayed response task than all of the other groups for much of the 12 month testing period.
[Show full text]