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Review
. 2013;34(3):589-94.
doi: 10.3233/JAD-122101.

Early reproductive experiences in females make differences in cognitive function later in life

Rena Li  1 , Jie Cui, Balaji Jothishankar, Juliet Shen, Ping He, Yong Shen
Affiliations
Review

Early reproductive experiences in females make differences in cognitive function later in life

Rena Li et al. J Alzheimers Dis. 2013.

Abstract

Women experience dramatic changes in hormones, mood, and cognition through different periods of their reproductive lives, particularly during pregnancy and giving birth. While limited human studies of early pregnancy and motherhood showed alteration of cognitive function in later life, research conducted on rodents showed a persistent improvement of learning and memory performance in females with history of giving birth (primiparous or multiparous) compared to virgin controls (nulliparous). In this mini review, we will focus on the effect of early motherhood on cognitive function later in life, which would provide insight on how reproductive experiences influence women's health during aging.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Representative images show that the number of BrdU-staining positive cells located in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus in hippocampus from multiparous mice (B) and age-matched nulliparous littermates (A) at 12 months old. BrdU was injected intraperitoneally with 50 mg/kg 4 hrs before sacrifice. Following 2N HCl treatment in 37°C for 30 min, the primary antibody against BrdU was applied (1:500, Abcam). After DAB step the sections were counter-stained with hemotaxyin. Bar: 100 um.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Oxytocin receptor (OTR) expression in brain of nulliparious and multiparous mice at 12 months old. All multiparous mice completed their last maternal experience at least 6 months ago and had more than 1 litter. Oxytocin receptor expression was detected by polyclonal anti-oxytocin receptor antibody (1:500, Santa Cruz) and the bar graph showed density analysis of western blot image of OTR.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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