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New Findings Highlight Brain Changes During Menopause

BURLINGTON, VERMONT – Research at the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at the University of Vermont reveals how menopause, once a taboo topic, affects brain function, reinforcing the idea that the menopause transition is not only a reproductive milestone, but also a critical neurological phase. The findings were published today in the journal Menopause, the peer-reviewed scholarly journal of The Menopause Society.

The study, led by Principal Investigator Julie Dumas, Ph.D., associate director of the Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit and professor of psychiatry at Larner, and conducted by Abigail Testo, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research associate in Dumas’ lab, examined brain function across menopausal stages: premenopause, perimenopause, and postmenopause. According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately 6,000 women enter menopause each day in the United States, or 1.3 million annually.

Dumas and Testo, whose research focuses on the relationship between hormones and brain aging in midlife females, found that brain activity measured during a ‘resting state,’ when individuals are not actively performing a task, differed significantly across menopause stages. These differences appear to be linked to hormonal changes, particularly fluctuations in estrogen, one of the most essential hormones that play an integral role in sexual and reproductive development in women.

The findings suggest that menopause represents an important neurological transition that may influence both cognitive experiences in the present and long-term brain aging. This study is among the first to demonstrate these changes using resting-state brain activity.

“With decades of life remaining after menopause, it is important to understand the neurological effects of hormone changes at midlife,” said Testo. “Our research contributes to the growing body of work examining the relationship between menopause and the brain.”

The project represents two years of focused work and builds on a longer collaboration between the researchers. Testo conducted the study as part of her doctoral research at UVM and has worked with Dumas for five years. Dumas brings more than 20 years of experience studying menopause and the brain.

The research team is continuing to investigate how hormonal changes influence brain aging beyond menopause. Ongoing studies explore how both naturally occurring hormones and external hormone therapies may differently affect brain health in aging women.

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Research like this has contributed to the University of Vermont’s designation by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as an R1 institution, placing it in the top tier of research universities in the U.S.

 About the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont  

Founded in 1822, the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at the University of Vermont is the seventh-oldest medical school in the nation. The college is dedicated to developing exceptional physicians and scientists by offering innovative curriculum design, state-of-the-art research facilities, and clinical partnerships with leading health care institutions. The college’s commitment to excellence has earned national recognition, attracting talented students, trainees, physicians, and researchers from across the country and around the world. With a focus on inclusive excellence, the Larner College of Medicine prides itself on cultivating an environment that uplifts and supports its faculty and student populations while advancing medical education, research, and patient care in Vermont and beyond. uvm.edu/larnermed