Oestrogen is like a multitasking superhero for your brain. It protects brain cells, helps you remember and learn, balances important brain chemicals, improves your mood, reduces anxiety, and keeps the structure of your brain in good shape. All these actions make oestrogen crucial for keeping your brain healthy and functioning well, especially during different stages of life like puberty, pregnancy, and menopause.
Protects Your Brain Cells
Cell Survival: Oestrogen helps keep your brain cells alive and healthy. It acts like a shield, protecting cells from damage and death.
Fighting Damage: Oestrogen helps your brain deal with harmful substances called free radicals, which can damage cells.
Boosting Memory and Learning
Better Connections: Oestrogen helps your brain form and maintain connections between cells. This is especially true in the hippocampus, a part of the brain that's crucial for memory and learning.
Learning and Memory: By strengthening these connections, oestrogen helps you learn new things and remember information better.
Improving Mood and Reducing Anxiety
Mood Booster: By increasing serotonin and dopamine, oestrogen helps lift your mood and reduces the risk of depression.
Calming Effect: Oestrogen can also help reduce anxiety, making you feel more relaxed.
Balancing Brain Chemicals
Excitatory Signals: Oestrogen increases the activity of a brain chemical called glutamate, which is important for learning and memory.
Inhibitory Signals: Oestrogen decreases the activity of GABA, another brain chemical that usually slows down brain activity. This makes your brain more alert.
Mood and Happiness: Oestrogen boosts serotonin, a brain chemical that makes you feel happy and calm. It also increases dopamine, which is related to pleasure and motivation.
Supporting Brain Structure
Myelination: Oestrogen helps with the growth of myelin, a protective layer around nerve fibres that speeds up communication between brain cells. This keeps your brain working efficiently
Growing New Brain Cells
Neurogenesis: Oestrogen encourages the growth of new brain cells, particularly in areas important for learning and memory.
Growing New Brain Cells
Reproductive Health: Oestrogen influences parts of the brain that control reproductive behaviours and functions, helping regulate menstrual cycles and sexual health.
How Oestrogen helps dopamine
Oestrogen and Dopamine
Dopamine is a chemical in your brain that plays a big role in how you feel and act. It’s often called the “feel-good” chemical because it helps you experience pleasure, motivation, and reward. It’s also involved in movement, learning, and attention.
Increases Dopamine Levels:
Oestrogen helps boost the amount of dopamine in your brain. This means you can feel more motivated, happy, and ready to take on challenges.
Reduces Breakdown of Dopamine:
Your brain constantly breaks down dopamine after it’s used. Oestrogen slows down this breakdown process, so dopamine stays around longer, keeping you feeling good for a longer time.
Enhances Dopamine Effects:
Oestrogen helps make dopamine work better by increasing the sensitivity of dopamine receptors. These are the parts of brain cells that respond to dopamine. With more sensitive receptors, the effects of dopamine are stronger, so you feel more of its positive effects.
Menstruation
When Oestrogen fluctuates
The menstrual cycle is typically around 28 days long and is divided into several phases:
- Follicular Phase (Days 1-14)- Rising oestrogen boosts dopamine and serotonin, leading to improved mood, motivation, and emotional stability.
- Ovulation (Around Day 14)- Peak oestrogen levels enhance dopamine and serotonin activity, making you feel energised, motivated and positive.
- Luteal Phase (Days 15-28)- Rising progesterone and fluctuating oestrogen reduces dopamine and serotonin levels, leading to mood swings, reduced motivation, and PMS symptoms.
- Menstruation (Days 1-5 of the next cycle)- Low oestrogen and progesterone levels can cause mood swings, irritability, and low energy.
Perimenopause
When Oestrogen fluctuates
Perimenopause is the transitional period leading up to menopause, typically starting in a woman’s 40s but sometimes earlier. It can last several years and is characterised by significant fluctuations in hormone levels.
Perimenopause experiences
- Mood Swings
- Anxiety and Irritability
- Sleep Disturbances
- Cognitive Changes
- Hot Flushes and Night Sweats
Menopause
When Oestrogen fluctuates
Menopause is the time in a woman’s life when menstrual periods permanently stop, marking the end of reproductive ability. It is diagnosed after 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period, usually in a woman’s late 40s to early 50s.
Menopause experiences
- Mood Changes, irritability and increased risk of depression and anxiety
- Decreased motivation, pleasure and interest in activities.
- Increased Anxiety and Irritability
- Sleep Disturbances: Disrupted sleep patterns, leading to insomnia or poor-quality sleep.
- Night sweats and hot flashes can also contribute to sleep disturbances.
- Cognitive Changes: Impact on cognitive functions like memory, attention, and focus, leading to forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating.
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Dr. Raffi
Dr Asad Raffi is the Founder of Sanctum Healthcare, Medical Director and Lead Consultant Psychiatrist on the Specialist GMC register. As Medical Director Dr Raffi had over 20 years experience as a psychiatrist and brings a plethora of experience from the NHS and private sector.