Study Shows Estrogen Can Improve Thinking

The Scientific American asks: "Is Estrogen the New Ritalin?" And with good reason.The magazine reports on research conducted at Berkeley suggesting that hormone fluctuations during a woman’s menstrual cycle may affect the
brain as much as do substances such as caffeine, methamphetamines or the
popular attention drug Ritalin. Sciam reports that researchers looked at 24 healthy women, some of whom had naturally high levels of
dopamine and some of whom had low levels.Unsurprisingly, those with  lower levels struggled with
complicated working memory tasks, such as repeating a series of five
numbers in reverse order. When the test was repeated during ovulation,
however, when estrogen levels are highest, these women improved their
performance by about 10 per­cent. On the other hand, Sciam reports, hose with naturally
high dopamine levels took a nosedive in their ability to do complicated
mental tasks at that point in their cycle. For more about estrogen replacement, read this.