marziyeh sajadian

Auditory-verbal memory (AVM) is the ability to learn, retain, and recall syllables and words. Memory has a strong relationship with the nervous and endocrine systems in humans. Changes in estrogen levels occur naturally at short (menstrual period) and long (pregnancy, menopause, and maturity) periods. Changes in estrogen levels are likely to affect memory function. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of hormone fluctuations on the AVM of women.

This cross-sectional study with a pretest/posttest design was conducted on 25 women aged 40−49 years with normal hearing and normal menstrual cycles of 28 ± 4 days, who were selected using a convenience sampling method. They were evaluated using two Persian versions of Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). This test was performed twice and at two different menstrual periods (2-5 and 14−16 days).

A significant correlation was observed between the mean of total recall score, recall score after interference, and delayed recall score at two different periods (p < 0.01). The scores of women in three areas on days 14−16 of the menstrual cycle were higher than on days 2−5.

Women’s RAVLT scores on days 14−16 of the menstrual cycle are higher than on days 2−5, indicating the effect of hormonal fluctuations on their AVM function. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the changes in women’s AVM in different days of the menstrual cycle.

Auditory verbal working memory is defined as the ability to learn, retain, and recall verbal syllables or words. Various factors like age, gender, education, and change in endocrine secretions, such as gonads, can affect the acquisition of memory and learning test scores. In the present study, the effect of menopause on changes in hormonal secretion was studied on women's working memory.  A descriptive-analytic study was performed on 25 menopause women, aged 50–59, with normal hearing and who had had their menopause during the past two years or more.  Sampling method was available sampling which was perfromed using the Persion version of the Rey auditory – verbal test. In order to investigate the status of data distribution we used Shapirovailk test, to examine the relationship between immediate recall and delayed recall and delayed recall, Wilcoxon test was run, to study the correlation between stages 1 to 5, Friedman test was used, and to investigate the relationship between age, education, and years of menopause, Spearman's correlation coefficient was run. The results showed that there is a significant relationship between the scores of trails 1 to 5. There was also a significant relationship between delayed memory with recognition score and also between education and some scores of memory test. Menopause in the age range of 50 to 59 years does not affect verbal auditory memory and it seems that the level of education will have a greater impact on the acquisition of scores in a decade of life.