Amazing good news about how menopause changes your brain

However, the findings contained some good news. The female brain at least partially compensates for these declines by increasing blood flow and producing a molecule called ATP, which is the main source of energy for cells.

“Our study suggests that the brain has the ability to find new normalities after menopause in most women,” said the lead author of the study, associate professor of neurology, and New York. Is. Lisa Mosconi, director of the Women’s Brain Initiative in Weil Cornell Medicine, said York. This study was published in Scientific Reports last week.

However, one group of women needed attention. Women in studies with genetic variation associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease accumulated more plaques of a protein called amyloid beta during the perimenopausal period than women and men without the genetic variation. These plaques are associated with the potential for subsequent development of Alzheimer’s disease.

“For women with a predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease, the female brain tends to begin to accumulate Alzheimer’s disease plaques during the transition to menopause,” says Dr. Mosconi. This finding is consistent with previous studies by them.

We still need to learn a lot about how changes during menopause affect postmenopausal health, but the transition has led to more research. During the menopausal and peri-menopausal stages (about 4-10 years before the final stage of women), estrogen levels fluctuate and eventually decline. Estrogen protects a woman’s brain from aging and stimulates nerve activity. It may also help prevent the accumulation of protein clusters or plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Scientists say that hormonal changes during the transition and the resulting brain changes cause symptoms such as burning, night sweats, brain fog, memory problems, sleep disorders, and even anxiety, depression, and malaise. Is called. It is theorized.

In the latest study, researchers performed brain scans of about 160 women aged 40-65 years and compared them to 125 men of the same age. Researchers have studied the female brain using images such as MRI and PET scans. The female brain falls into three categories: And postmenopausal people.

A two-year follow-up scan after menopause found that changes in the brain were often temporary, with parts of the brain reversing within a few years.

Scans showed a decrease in the amount of gray matter, but for some women, especially in the precuneus, areas of the brain used for social cognition and memory, such a decrease recovered after menopause. .. Other women have flat levels. There was no significant recovery in about 20% of women.

“What was really impressive was that the gray matter of the brain was high in premenopausal women, declined during the peri-menopausal period, and then stabilized in many parts of the brain or recovered after menopause,” Mosconi said. The doctor says. To tell. She states that the findings need to be reproduced and not over-interpreted, but overall suggests that the brain is acclimatized.

Jessica Caldwell, director of the Women’s Alzheimer’s Exercise Prevention Center at the Cleveland Clinic, said that brain changes that occur during menopause can appear negative, but “this study shows that for most women this is It indicates that there is a time limit. Adjustments have been made and the female brain is actually at the same level of postmenopausal structure and function as it was before menopause. ”

According to scientists, the association with Alzheimer’s disease is worth further study. According to a study by Dr. Caldwell, even women at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease show “significant time” of memory resilience, despite spots in the brain and changes in brain structure. It is shown. Dr. Mosconi’s work may help explain the duration of memory resilience, says Caldwell: as amyloid plaques accumulate, the brain adapts as part of the menopausal transition. .. may be.

“At the same time, this study shows why women are at risk. [for Alzheimer’s disease] Then, after some point, it shows a significantly and potentially more rapid decline than men, “says Dr. Caldwell. “The resilience of women at risk is not eternal.”

Kejal Kantarci, a professor of radiology at the Mayo Clinic Medical College, said it is still unclear whether the neurological changes shown in this study were actually due to menopause or aging. Said.

Given the high frequency of Alzheimer’s disease in postmenopausal women, it is important to understand how to distinguish between normal aging and potential changes that can presage Alzheimer’s disease, Harvard University School of Psychiatry said. I am. Professor, Founder, and Executive Director Jill M. Goldstein gives an overview of the Gender Differences Medical Center in Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“Postmenopausal women have a great deal of variability in how they maintain intact memory,” says Dr. Goldstein. “We need to dig deeper into what the mechanisms involved are and be able to enhance them.”

Write to Sumathi Reddy at Sumathi.reddy@wsj.com