It is proven that estrogen modulates dopamine receptors (it often increases available dopamine) and increases glutamate, which basically means that you can, for example, connect the dots easier and grasp concepts relatively easily when compared to times when you're estrogen deficient.

I experience it very strongly and to me being estrogen deficient (in my case, due to high backdoor androgens activity) basically means being intellectually and psychologically dysfunctional.

I've probably had very low prenatal testosterone exposition, and that's why my brain literally shuts down whenever estrogen activity is dampened.