---
title: How does estrogen affect thinking and brain performance? | Niyora
description: When estrogen is high, women with psychosis performed worse on a fine motor test, but normal women did not improve. This suggests estrogen affects the brain d
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/estrogen-affects-cognition-in-women-with-psychosis-2000/
---

- [Niyora](https://niyora.com/)
- [Research](https://niyora.com/research/)
- [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/)
- How does estrogen affect thinking and brain performance?

Case-control study, 2000

# How does estrogen affect thinking and brain performance?

When estrogen is high, women with psychosis performed worse on a fine motor test, but normal women did not improve. This suggests estrogen affects the brain differently in women with psychosis.

 Early or limited evidence

31 normal women and 29 women with psychosis

## What they did

Tested 31 normal women and 29 women with psychosis twice, two weeks apart, on thinking and motor tests during low-estrogen and high-estrogen phases of the menstrual cycle.

## What they found

Both groups performed better on mental rotation and attention tests during low estrogen. During high estrogen, normal women showed no improvement on fine motor tasks, but women with psychosis performed significantly worse on the Purdue Pegboard test.

## What it means for you

High estrogen may impair motor performance in women with psychosis. This is a very small study, so results may not generalize. The mechanism is unclear.

31

Normal women tested

29

Women with psychosis tested

2 weeks

Time between tests

## About the study

Original title Estrogen affects cognition in women with psychosis Authors Thompson K, Sergejew A, Kulkarni J Journal Psychiatry research Year 2000 Study design Case-control study Participants 31 What was tested None - observation of menstrual cycle phases Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/s0165-1781(00)00161-x](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0165-1781(00)00161-x)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Cognition, concentration and memory](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-cognition/)[Schizophrenia and psychosis](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-psychosis/)

Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits.

Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

## Related studies

Cohort study, 2023

Are PMS symptoms linked to genetic factors for psychiatric disorders?

Survey study, 2021

Do PMS and PMDD affect attention and short-term memory in teenage girls?

Review, 2005

How does acute tryptophan depletion help us understand mood disorders?

Review, 1996

How does estrogen affect mood and memory?

Review, 1991

Can serotonin drugs treat PMS?

Survey study, 1990

Does PMS come from a broken stress hormone system?

Ask AI about this page

Copy prompt

ChatGPT

↗

Claude

↗

Perplexity

↗

Google AI Mode

↗

Grok

↗