Can hormones help improve memory or prevent further loss?  As women enter into menopause, they primarily want to alleviate symptoms of hot flashes. However, bone loss, vaginal dryness, dementia and more recently Alzheimer’s disease, which affect twice as many women as men are also signs of hormonal deficiency and imbalance. In 1988 psychologist Barbara Sherwin discovered the relationship between estrogen loss and a decline in memory in menopausal women. Sherwin’s studies showed estrogen maintains verbal memory and enhances the capacity to learn new things in post menopausal women. Dr. Farnsworth commonly places women (and men) on naturally occurring hormone support to correct these hormone imbalances. He states that “the key to treating hormonal memory loss is in early intervention.” He further explains the role of different hormones such as pregnenolone, estrogen and testosterone that affect memory.

Pregnenolone is a “building block” hormone, primarily made in the adrenal glands from cholesterol but it can also be made in other tissues including the brain. Pregnenolone is the precursor to most of the hormones the body uses which convert into DHEA, progesterone, estrogen and other steroid hormones. Pregnenolone has been found to help with learning and memory, mood and energy, speed of thinking, verbal fluency, concentration and focus, creativity, vision, hearing, awareness, and sensory perception. Human research with pregnenolone is limited but several rodent studies have shown it to be a powerful memory enhancer.