title: Effect of menopause on cognitive performance in women with Down syndrome.
abstract: We compared cognitive function in nondemented pre- and postmenopausal women with Down syndrome, aged 21-57 years, with their age-matched male peers. The Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability-Revised were used to assess cognitive function at baseline and 2 years later. Premenopausal women performed better than their age-matched male peers, while postmenopausal women performed more poorly than age-matched male peers (p = 0.007). Premenopausal women and young men showed no significant declines in cognition over time. Postmenopausal women, but not their age-matched male peers, showed significant declines in cognitive function. Our results support the hypothesis that cognitive declines in postmenopausal women are associated with estrogen deficiency rather than with age.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Epidemiology, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, 1050 Forest Hill Road, Staten Island, NY 10314, USA.
authors.forename: B N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Seltzer
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Schupf
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D018450:Disease Progression; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017698:Postmenopause; D012737:Sex Factors