28/01/2026
Researchers at the University of Cambridge studied 124,780 women and found that menopause is linked to loss of brain grey matter, the tissue important for memory, thinking, emotion and movement.
This reduction in grey matter may help explain why women face a higher risk of dementia than men.
Cognitive and mental health effects:
Menopause was also associated with slower reaction times and increased anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and tiredness compared with pre-menopausal women.
Women using hormone replacement therapy (HRT) had faster reaction times than post-menopausal women not on HRT, suggesting HRT might slow some aspects of brain ageing — though memory performance did not differ between groups.
Brain structure details:
MRI scans (on about 11,000 women) showed that grey matter reductions were particularly notable in key regions like the hippocampus (memory), entorhinal cortex (memory/navigation), and anterior cingulate cortex (attention and emotion control) — areas often affected in Alzheimer’s disease.
Expert context:
The study doesn’t prove menopause causes dementia later in life, but the brain changes observed could be part of why dementia is more common in women.
Researchers and Alzheimer’s charities note that lifestyle factors (exercise, not smoking, moderate alcohol) can help reduce dementia risk regardless of menopause.
For more information : https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/dementia-menopause-hrt-brain-grey-matter-b2907808.html
