Research shows that women are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than men by a 3-to-2 margin. Some scientists believe this is because when women reach menopause, their bodies cease to produce estrogen, and the pituitary gland begins over-producing another hormone, luteinizing hormone (LH), to try to jump-start the ovaries.
Gemma Casadesus Smith, an associate professor of Biological Sciences in Kent State University’s College of Arts and Sciences, plans to test those beliefs in mice using a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health.
“So if the hypothesis is that LH receptor signaling goes down, and that receptor is what facilitates cognitive function, then by removing this in normal mice, we should see cognitive deficits,” she said.
