ArticleBMC women's health2020
Changes in six domains of cognitive function with reproductive and chronological ageing and sex hormones: a longitudinal study in 2411 UK mid-life women.
Article in BMC women's health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- The acute effect of two exercise modalities on neurocognitive responses in postmenopausal women: A randomized controlled trial.Experimental physiology · 2026Trial
- Estradiol and memory circuitry in the postmenopause: Modification by APOE4.Research square · 2026Article
- Gonadotropins Across the Lifespan: Their role in the Neurodevelopment-Neurodegeneration Continuum.The Yale journal of biology and medicine · 2026Review
- Cognitive strategy in verbal fluency: sex differences, menstrual cycle, and menopause effects.Cognitive processing · 2025Article
- Not your mother's hormone therapy: Highly selective estrogen receptor beta agonists as next-generation therapies for menopausal symptom relief.Hormones and behavior · 2025Review
- Association Between Serum Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Levels and Cognitive Function in Middle-Aged and Older Women.Journal of Korean medical science · 2025Article
- Endogenous Estrogens and Brain Activation During Verbal Memory Encoding and Recognition in the Postmenopause.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2025Article
- Estimating age of menopause in mothers in the ALSPAC Study: A data note.Wellcome open research · 2025Article
- Low testosterone levels relate to poorer cognitive function in women in an APOE-ε4-dependant manner.Biology of sex differences · 2024Article
- Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and midlife maternal cognition in a prospective cohort study.Journal of clinical hypertension (Greenwich, Conn.) · 2024Article
- Differential effects of aging on hippocampal ultrastructure in male vs. female rats.Biogerontology · 2023Article
- Cognitive Problems in Perimenopause: A Review of Recent Evidence.Current psychiatry reports · 2023Review
- Article
- Different effects of cardiometabolic syndrome on brain age in relation to gender and ethnicity.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2023Article
- Brain volumetric changes in menopausal women and its association with cognitive function: a structured review.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2023Review
- Changes in women's physical function in mid-life by reproductive age and hormones: a longitudinal study.BMC women's health · 2022Article
- Associations between inflammatory marker profiles and neurocognitive functioning in people with schizophrenia and non-psychiatric comparison subjects.Journal of psychiatric research · 2022Article
- Sex Differences in Memory: Do Female Reproductive Factors Explain the Differences?Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Article
- Menopause and cognitive impairment: A narrative review of current knowledge.World journal of psychiatry · 2021Review
- Cognitive changes during the menopausal transition: a longitudinal study in women with and without HIV.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
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Abstract
backgroundThere may be changes in cognitive function in women going through the menopause. The current evidence remains unclear, however, whether these changes occur over and above those of general ageing. We aimed to evaluate the potential impact of the menopause (assessed by reproductive age and hormone levels) on cognitive function in women in mid-life accounting for the underlying effects of ageing.
methodsThe study was based on the follow up of women originally enrolled in pregnancy in a birth cohort when resident in the South West of England, UK between 1991 and 1992. Using up to three repeated measurements in 2411 women (mean age 51 at first assessment), we modelled changes in six cognitive function domains: immediate and delayed verbal episodic memory, working memory, processing speed, verbal intelligence and verbal fluency. The exposures of interest were reproductive age measured as years relative to the final menstrual period (FMP), chronological age and reproductive hormones (follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH)).
resultsProcessing speed (- 0.21 (95% CI - 0.36 to - 0.06) standard deviation (SD) difference per 10 years since FMP), immediate verbal episodic memory (- 0.15 (95% CI - 0.35 to 0.06)) and delayed verbal episodic memory (- 0.17 (95% CI - 0.37 to 0.03)) declined with reproductive age. Reproductive hormones were not robustly associated with processing speed, but FSH and LH were both negatively associated with immediate (- 0.08 (95% CI - 0.13 to - 0.02) SD difference per SD difference in hormone level) and delayed verbal episodic memory (- 0.08 (95% CI - 0.13 to - 0.03)). There was little consistent evidence of cognitive function declining with menopause in other cognitive domains.
conclusionsOf the cognitive domains tested only verbal episodic memory declined both in relation to age since the menopause and in conjunction with the reproductive hormones that reflect the menopause. This decline was independent of normal ageing and suggests that the menopause is associated with a mild impact on this specific domain of cognitive function.
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