Early menopause is associated with reduced global brain activity.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Aging Research
• Women's Health

Background:

• Menopause involves declining ovarian hormones, accelerating aging and increasing neurodegenerative disease risk in women.
• Early menopause exacerbates physiological aging, memory impairment, and dementia risk.
• Infra-slow global brain activity (< 0.1 Hz) is crucial for arousal, memory, and waste clearance, potentially impacting Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between the timing of menopause and global brain activity.
• To understand how early menopause influences brain function and cognitive performance.

Main Methods:

• Utilized resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from the Human Connectome Project-Aging dataset.
• Compared infra-slow global brain activity and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow coupling between early and later menopausal women.

Main Results:

• Women with earlier menopause showed significantly weaker global brain activity (p=5.0×10^-4) and reduced CSF flow coupling (p=0.017).
• These differences were prominent in higher-order brain regions.
• Brain activation correlated with memory performance only in early menopausal women.

Conclusions:

• Early menopause is associated with altered global brain activity and impaired CSF flow.
• These brain changes may underlie memory deficits and increased dementia risk in early-onset menopausal women.
• Findings suggest a potential mechanism linking menopause timing to accelerated brain aging and neurodegeneration.