Recent study Women have a better memory thanks to hormones

Hormone estradiol influences the memory
Is there a difference between a man and a woman, which causes one of the two sexes to have better memory? Researchers have now found that higher levels of the female sex hormone estradiol actually affect memory and women generally have better memory for this reason.

Researchers at the internationally acclaimed Harvard Medical School found in one study that one type of estrogen (estradiol) in women improves memory capacity. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "Menopause: Journal of the North American Menopause Society".

Do women really have a better memory than men? A hormone in women causes them to remember the past better. (Image: contrastwerkstatt / fotolia.com)

Menopause can cause a worsening of memory in women
The research also suggests that postmenopausal women may suffer from a reduction in memory capacity. This seems to be associated with a decline in hormone levels, the experts explain.

Researchers rate memory and other mental abilities
The physicians examined for their study 212 men and women aged 45 to 55 years. The study evaluated general memory ability and other mental abilities. Of the women examined, 34 percent had not yet reached their menopause. 30 percent of the participants had already passed the menopause, say the doctors. None of the women underwent any form of hormone replacement therapy.

Estradiol plays an important role
Researchers explained to the study that middle-aged women still outnumber men of similar age in all memory test outcomes. The levels of the hormone oestradiol in the blood seem to play an important key role in why memory works better in women than in men.

Falling estradiol levels in postmenopausal women leads to worse memory
It was found that the decrease in estradiol levels in postmenopausal women was associated with lower rates of initial learning and recovery of previously learned information, the authors explain.

Not all women experience a worsening of memory through menopause
Menopausal complaints about forgetfulness have often been associated with workplace stress and other factors. The role of the effects of hormones of menopause was not considered, explain the experts. Not all women experience such deteriorated memory after the menopause. It is unclear why some women are more acutely affected by these changes, say the authors. Memory difficulties should be taken seriously. The results of the study show that such complaints are associated with memory deficiencies. (As)