What's Happening to My Brain?
That's a question many of us wonder about, especially as we go through menopause.
Once upon a time, I was a woman who:
Left my phone in the freezer. (Not purposely.)
Erroneously mailed a check for my utility bill (to my friend Merrill.)
Phoned the admissions office at a college my son got rejected from. (This one I swear I don’t remember, but my son regularly reminds me of his humiliation as he helplessly stood by.)
I’ll bet on the fact that you can figure out approximately when these occurred.
Bingo!
MENOPAUSE.
The bad news: I was alternately irate, irascible, uncontrollable and unmanageable. A real-life tragicomedy.
The good news? Now, post-menopause, my brain is intact. I am controlling my emotions, eruptions, outbursts and fury better than ever.
Fact: Menopause can, and does, affect our brain with:
The reason behind that is quite simple: The key-protective hormone, that protects the brain…
ESTROGEN
And we all know what happens to our estrogen as we pass through menopause. It slowly diminishes, until it just about disappears.
While it’s true that our brains also rely on age, genetic factors, stress, sleep, physical health (do we suffer from obesity, diabetes, heart disease?) our lifestyle and environmental choices for its functioning, our cognitive health is dependent on another key factor - that of our hormones.
Think back to adolescence…to the days of your period. I don’t know about you, but I was extremely moody, irritable, teary, anxious, and even paranoid leading up to each monthly cycle. My brain sometimes felt like it was on fire, my emotions tense, unfiltered, and untamed. Pregnancy can do that, too. That’s hormones for you…and they’re acting similarly when they are see-sawing and ultimately declining during the time of menopause, a type of puberty-in-reverse.
Lisa Mosconi, PhD, is a brilliant neuroscientist who has taken a liking to studying the female brain. And I am so grateful for her work. You might have seen her on television being interviewed lately, as menopause is quite the news story these days.
I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Mosconi some years ago (actually, it was the last in-person event I’d attend before Covid shut down the world), when she and Maria Shriver met with a slew of journalists to talk about Alzheimer’s disease and women. Yes, our brains are quite different from men’s brains (we all knew that already, didn’t we?), but in the real, look-on-a-brain-scan sense. That could be why women are disproportionately affected by Alzheimer’s.
But onto menopause. The ebb in hormones, a hallmark of menopause, causes the loss of a key protective element in the female brain, she says. And just as our bodies, our muscles and bones decline with age, or our skin sports wrinkles and sags, so the brain becomes more vulnerable to aging and disease. As Dr. Mosconi writes in her book The XX Brain:
“Historically, the connection between hormones and brain health has been overlooked, mostly because the world had yet to realize how hormonal changes impacted the brain.”
She goes on to say that we now know that many menopausal symptoms actually originate in our brain. First and foremost, they are neurological symptoms, she says.
And they must be taken very seriously.
So, no, what and how you are feeling is not all in your head. (Well, it is, actually.) Menopause causes your brain to change. Truly.
But there is a light at the end of what feels like a very long tunnel.
The sooner we start taking care of our body and brain, the better off we will be. It’s never too late.
Here are some quick and simple starting points (and reminders!). They may be obvious, but they bear repeating:
Eat a diet rich in fruits, veggies and whole grains
Manage your stress
Log adequate sleep
Exercise
Unplug
Make time for friends
Be curious and learn something new
Keep your mouth and gums healthy
Curb your caffeine and alcohol
Find a gyn who knows about menopause. Discuss your options, which might include hormone replacement therapy.
For a Pause…
Brain fog during menopause appears to be temporary.
It may be harder, but it’s not impossible to lose weight after menopause
Get a good night’s rest with these tips.
Dr. Mosconi’s excellent book is available on Amazon.
One More Thing:
Menopause is not always to blame. We all forget from time to time.
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Another informative and reassuring post. Thank you!