Although hormones such as glucocorticoids have been broadly accepted in recent decades as general neuromodulators of memory processes, sex steroid hormones such as the potent oestrogen 17β-oestradiol have been less well recognized by the scientific community in this capacity. The predominance of females in studies of oestradiol and memory and the general (but erroneous) perception that oestrogens are ‘female’ hormones have probably prevented oestradiol from being more widely considered as a key memory modulator in both sexes. Indeed, although considerable evidence supports a crucial role for oestradiol in regulating learning and memory in females, a growing body of literature indicates a similar role in males. This Review discusses the mechanisms of oestradiol signalling and provides an overview of the effects of oestradiol on spatial, object recognition, social and fear memories. Although the primary focus is on data collected in females, effects of oestradiol on memory in males will be discussed, as will sex differences in the molecular mechanisms that regulate oestrogenic modulation of memory, which may have important implications for the development of future cognitive therapeutics.

尽管近几十年来，糖皮质激素等激素已被广泛认为是记忆过程的一般神经调节剂，但科学界对性类固醇激素（如强效雌激素 17β-雌二醇）的认识还不太充分。在雌二醇和记忆研究中女性占主导地位，以及雌激素是“女性”激素的普遍（但错误）观念，可能阻碍了雌二醇被更广泛地认为是两性的关键记忆调节剂。事实上，尽管大量证据支持雌二醇在调节女性学习和记忆方面发挥着至关重要的作用，但越来越多的文献表明，雌二醇在男性中也发挥着类似的作用。这篇综述讨论了雌二醇信号传导的机制，并概述了雌二醇对空间、物体识别、社交和恐惧记忆的影响。虽然主要关注的是女性收集的数据，但我们将讨论雌二醇对男性记忆的影响，以及调节雌激素调节记忆的分子机制的性别差异，这可能对未来认知治疗的发展具有重要意义。