Association of Reproductive History With Brain MRI Biomarkers of Dementia Risk in Midlife.

Background And Objectives: To examine associations between indicators of estrogen exposure from women's reproductive history and brain MRI biomarkers of Alzheimer disease (AD) in midlife.

Methods: We evaluated 99 cognitively normal women 52 ± 6 years of age and 29 men 52 ± 7 years of age with reproductive history data, neuropsychological testing, and volumetric MRI scans. We used multiple regressions to examine associations among reproductive history indicators, voxel-wise gray matter volume (GMV), and memory and global cognition scores, adjusting for demographics and midlife health indicators.

Environmental enrichment reduces heroin seeking following incubation of craving in both male and female rats.

Background: Contemporary treatments for heroin use disorder demonstrate only limited efficacy when the goals are long term abstinence and prevention of relapse. We have demonstrated that environmental enrichment (EE) reduces cue-induced heroin reinstatement in male rats. The present study is an attempt to extend the "anti-relapse" effects of EE to female rats and to periods where incubation of craving is hypothesized to occur.

Menopause impacts human brain structure, connectivity, energy metabolism, and amyloid-beta deposition.

All women undergo the menopause transition (MT), a neuro-endocrinological process that impacts aging trajectories of multiple organ systems including brain. The MT occurs over time and is characterized by clinically defined stages with specific neurological symptoms. Yet, little is known of how this process impacts the human brain.