Brain shrinkage tied to aging 'pauses' as a woman nears menopause, study finds
A new study looked at gray matter in the brain during puberty, pregnancy and menopause, finding distinct changes at different life stages.
A new study published in Nature Communications suggests that the brain's gray matter, which includes the wrinkled outer surface called the cerebral cortex, remains stable during menopause, contrary to gradual loss during puberty and pregnancy. The research, led by Sophie van t Hof, a doctoral student in psychiatry at Amsterdam University Medical Center, examined brain structure changes across three major female hormonal transitions - puberty, pregnancy, and menopause.
The study analyzed brain scans from over 1,000 girls and women, gathered from the UK Biobank database, and found that gray matter volume declines during puberty and pregnancy, likely reflecting fine-tuning of neural circuits. However, during the transition leading up to menopause, this gradual loss of gray matter levels off temporarily, then resumes postmenopause.
The exact timing of this pause varied for each woman but occurred consistently across the group. Researchers hope other studies will build on these findings to further our understanding of the dynamic nature of the female brain across the lifespan.
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