Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2014 Aug 12:9:1327-33.
doi: 10.2147/CIA.S61760. eCollection 2014.

Cognitive effects of testosterone and finasteride administration in older hypogonadal men

Stephen E Borst  1 , Joshua F Yarrow  2 , Carmen Fernandez  1 , Christine F Conover  2 , Fan Ye  2 , John R Meuleman  1 , Matthew Morrow  3 , Baiming Zou  4 , Jonathan J Shuster  5
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Cognitive effects of testosterone and finasteride administration in older hypogonadal men

Stephen E Borst et al. Clin Interv Aging. .

Abstract

Serum concentrations of neuroactive androgens decline in older men and, in some studies, low testosterone is associated with decreased cognitive function and incidence of depression. Existing studies evaluating the effect of testosterone administration on cognition in older men have been largely inconclusive, with some studies reporting minor to moderate cognitive benefit, while others indicate no cognitive effect. Our objective was to assess the cognitive effects of treating older hypogonadal men for 1 year with a supraphysiological dose of testosterone, either alone or in combination with finasteride (a type II 5α-reductase inhibitor), in order to determine whether testosterone produces cognitive benefit and whether suppressed dihydrotestosterone influences cognition. Sixty men aged ≥ 60 years with a serum testosterone concentration of ≤ 300 ng/dL or bioavailable testosterone ≤ 70 ng/dL and no evidence of cognitive impairment received testosterone-enanthate (125 mg/week) versus vehicle, paired with finasteride (5 mg/day) versus placebo using a 2×2 factorial design. Testosterone caused a small decrease in depressive symptoms as assessed by the Geriatric Depression Scale and a moderate increase in visuospatial memory as assessed by performance on a recall trial of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test. Finasteride caused a small increase in performance on the Benton Judgment of Line Orientation test. In total, major improvements in cognition were not observed either with testosterone or finasteride. Further studies are warranted to determine if testosterone replacement may improve cognition in other domains.

Keywords: 5 alpha reductase; cognition; depression; testosterone enanthate.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Moffat SD, Zonderman AB, Metter EJ, Blackman MR, Harman SM, Resnick SM. Longitudinal assessment of serum free testosterone concentration predicts memory performance and cognitive status in elderly men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2002;87(11):5001–5007. - PubMed
    1. Shores MM, Moceri VM, Sloan KL, Matsumoto AM, Kivlahan DR. Low testosterone levels predict incident depressive illness in older men: effects of age and medical morbidity. J Clin Psychiatry. 2005;66(1):7–14. - PubMed
    1. Hawley WR, Grissom EM, Martin RC, Halmos MB, Bart CL, Dohanich GP. Testosterone modulates spatial recognition memory in male rats. Horm Behav. 2013;63(4):559–565. - PubMed
    1. Ota H, Akishita M, Akiyoshi T, et al. Testosterone deficiency accelerates neuronal and vascular aging of SAMP8 mice: protective role of eNOS and SIRT1. PloS One. 2012;7(1):e29598. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Young LA, Neiss MB, Samuels MH, Roselli CE, Janowsky JS. Cognition is not modified by large but temporary changes in sex hormones in men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2010;95(1):280–288. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources