ArticleScientific reports2021
Menopause impacts human brain structure, connectivity, energy metabolism, and amyloid-beta deposition.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 175 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
175 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 252 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transcranial photobiomodulation therapy in older women regarding cognitive functions: a systematic review.Lasers in medical science · 2025Pooled it
- Cognitive Training During Midlife: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neuropsychology review · 2025Pooled it
- Is hypertension negatively associated with memory performance in women during climacteric? A systematic review.BMC women's health · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of resveratrol on postmenopausal women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Brazilian Guideline on Menopausal Cardiovascular Health - 2024.Arquivos brasileiros de cardiologia · 2024Guideline
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of menopause hormone therapy on cognition.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Pooled it
- Systematic review ofFrontiers in aging neuroscience · 2023Pooled it
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of menopause hormone therapy on risk of Alzheimer's disease and dementia.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2023Pooled it
- The effect of probiotic supplementation on sexual function in premenopausal and menopausal women: a randomized controlled clinical trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Greater temporo-occipital gray matter volume and frontoparietal cortical thickness in post-menopausal women: a UK Biobank study.Brain structure & function · 2026Article
- Report of the FDA's expert panel on hormone therapy.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Review
- Prospective study of reproductive span and menopausal hormone therapy and cognitive decline over 8 years in the Nurses' Health Study.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Article
- Global and Medial Temporal MRI Morphometry in Alzheimer's Disease and Cognitively Normal Adults: A Retrospective Association Study.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The influence of sex on cognition in psychosis.Schizophrenia research. Cognition · 2026Article
- Associations of adiposity and physical fitness with hippocampaldependent mnemonic discrimination in postmenopausal women.Physical activity and nutrition · 2026Article
- Association between reproductive history, white matter integrity, and cognition in post-menopausal Latina women from the Boston Latino Aging Study.Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology · 2026Observational
- Targeting hormone treatment for the brain in menopause.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Sexual dimorphism of midbrain catecholaminergic metabolism revealed by neuromelanin-sensitive MRI.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Managing Vulvovaginal Atrophy, in Postmenopausal Women, Without Hormones: Efficacy of a Hyaluronic Acid Vaginal Moisturizer.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Metabolic Changes of Perimenopause and Nutritional Advice.Current nutrition reports · 2026Review
115 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
All women undergo the menopause transition (MT), a neuro-endocrinological process that impacts aging trajectories of multiple organ systems including brain. The MT occurs over time and is characterized by clinically defined stages with specific neurological symptoms. Yet, little is known of how this process impacts the human brain. This multi-modality neuroimaging study indicates substantial differences in brain structure, connectivity, and energy metabolism across MT stages (pre-menopause, peri-menopause, and post-menopause). These effects involved brain regions subserving higher-order cognitive processes and were specific to menopausal endocrine aging rather than chronological aging, as determined by comparison to age-matched males. Brain biomarkers largely stabilized post-menopause, and gray matter volume (GMV) recovered in key brain regions for cognitive aging. Notably, GMV recovery and in vivo brain mitochondria ATP production correlated with preservation of cognitive performance post-menopause, suggesting adaptive compensatory processes. In parallel to the adaptive process, amyloid-β deposition was more pronounced in peri-menopausal and post-menopausal women carrying apolipoprotein E-4 (APOE-4) genotype, the major genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease, relative to genotype-matched males. These data show that human menopause is a dynamic neurological transition that significantly impacts brain structure, connectivity, and metabolic profile during midlife endocrine aging of the female brain.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.