Webinar

Hormones and the Aging Female Brain: Connecting Hormonal Transitions to Cognitive Health

Speakers

Christina O'Brien, DC, RDN, DACNB, IFMC

46 minutes

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About this webinar

As the population ages, cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases are becoming some of the most pressing health challenges of our time. Yet hormones—particularly estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and cortisol—play a critical but under-recognized role in brain health, neuroplasticity, and inflammation.

In this session, Dr. Christina O’Brien, DC, RDN, DACNB, IFMCP, explores how hormonal changes across the lifespan influence brain function, resilience, and degeneration. Drawing from her expertise in functional neurology, neuroendocrine physiology, and dried urine tests for comprehensive hormones (DUTCH), she will demonstrate how advanced hormone testing can help clinicians identify root causes of cognitive changes.

You will learn how to connect hormone metabolism patterns, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation to clinical presentations of brain fog, mood instability, and early cognitive decline, and walk away with actionable strategies to support your patients’ hormonal and neurological health.

Key takeaways

  • Explore how sex hormones and cortisol regulate neuroplasticity, neurotransmitter balance, and mitochondrial energy—and how perimenopause influences memory, focus, and motivation.
  • Address neuroinflammation and oxidative stress by identifying 4-hydroxyestradiol (4-OH-E2) dominance, poor methylation, and impaired detoxification patterns, while evaluating the role of DHEA and testosterone in maintaining hippocampal volume, cognition, and motivation during hormonal transitions.
  • Examine the relationship between chronic hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation, hippocampal atrophy, and impaired glymphatic clearance—while understanding how the cortisol awakening response (CAR) predicts cognitive decline and mood disorders.
  • Integrate hormone and genetic testing by using DUTCH to evaluate cortisol patterns, melatonin, and organic acid markers associated with neurotoxicity and mitochondrial function, alongside genetic insights to personalize neuroprotective interventions.
  • Apply therapeutic strategies through case examples showing how addressing hormonal imbalance can reverse fatigue, anxiety, and cognitive fog—while optimizing hormone balance, reducing neuroinflammation, and enhancing cognitive longevity.