Short-term midlife estrogen and memory in women
Official title: Short-term estradiol use in middle-age: implications for female cognitive aging
Funded at Tulane University of Louisiana · NIH-11300960 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This research tests whether a short course of estrogen in midlife helps protect women's memory and slow brain aging.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Tulane University of Louisiana NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New Orleans, United States) |
| Project start | August 1, 2012 |
| Project end | March 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $534,026 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AG041374-09 |
| Project ID | NIH-11300960 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are middle-aged women around the time of menopause who are considering or recently received short-term estrogen therapy and are interested in memory preservation.
✕Less likely to help
Men, much younger women not near menopause, and people with medical contraindications to estrogen are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this work.
What this research studies
From a patient's point of view, researchers are exploring whether giving estradiol (a form of estrogen) for a short time during midlife can change the brain so memory stays better as women age. Much of the work uses animal models where short-term midlife estradiol improved hippocampal function and long-term memory, and the team is probing the brain changes behind those benefits. They are focusing on brain estrogen receptors, locally made 'neuroestrogens', and cell signaling pathways such as IGF-1 driven ERK/MAPK versus PI3K that influence memory cells. The goal is to find ways to get lasting cognitive benefits from brief hormone treatment without long-term estrogen exposure.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to short-term estrogen approaches that preserve memory and reduce future Alzheimer's risk for women.
How similar studies have gone: Animal studies and some human observational data suggest benefits when estrogen is started near menopause, but large clinical trials that started estrogen later in life have produced mixed results.
Where this research is happening
-
Tulane University of Louisiana
New Orleans, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Daniel, Jill M — Tulane University of Louisiana
- Study coordinator: Daniel, Jill M
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.