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Testosterone and the female brain

Published: 12 March 2008

Professor Susan Davis and Dr Sonia Davison of the Women’s Health Program at Monash University are inviting women to participate in a study of the effects of testosterone on the brain. Recent reports have focused on the favourable effects of testosterone on the male brain, however the effects of testosterone on the female brain are largely unknown. Women have double the rate of dementia compared to men, and some have theorised that testosterone may somehow protect the male brain from a decline in general function.

The study will assess the effects of testosterone treatment in postmenopausal women aged 45-60 years who are already on oestrogen therapy and whose levels of testosterone are less than half of those seen in young premenopausal women.

For more information contact the team, based at the Alfred Hospital, on +61 3 9903 0827.