Menopause is the only hormonal transition in a woman’s life that is not associated with a reduction in grey matter or brain volume
A study has analysed structural changes in the female brain during the three main hormonal transitions: puberty, pregnancy and the menopause. To do this, using longitudinal neuroimaging – which records images of the brain over time – the researchers compared women transitioning from one hormonal phase to another with participants currently in those hormonal phases – more than 1,000 women in total. The results, published in Nature Communications, show that the transitions of puberty and pregnancy lead to a reduction in cortical grey matter, whilst women going through the menopause did not show a significant decrease in either cortical grey matter or total brain volume.
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