PhD in Biomedicine and Health Sciences. Researcher with the Galeno CTS-158 Group, University of Cádiz
Although menopause is a part of the lives of millions of women—accounting for about one-third of their lives in total—it remains one of the least-studied stages of women’s health. With up to 72 associated symptoms, there are still many unanswered questions about many of them and the impact of treatments. We spoke with experts to find out which questions remain unanswered.
A study has analysed structural changes in the female brain during the three main hormonal transitions: puberty, pregnancy and the menopause. To do this, using longitudinal neuroimaging – which records images of the brain over time – the researchers compared women transitioning from one hormonal phase to another with participants currently in those hormonal phases – more than 1,000 women in total. The results, published in Nature Communications, show that the transitions of puberty and pregnancy lead to a reduction in cortical grey matter, whilst women going through the menopause did not show a significant decrease in either cortical grey matter or total brain volume.
An analysis based on Google Trends data collected between 2005 and 2025 showed that the proportion of menopause-related searches referring to commercial products and services increased by between 15 and 20 percentage points in the UK, Australia and the US. These findings suggest that people may increasingly be seeking non-clinical approaches to managing the menopause, not only for symptom relief but also for guidance, monitoring and support outside of clinical consultations. The study is published today in the journal JAMA Network Open.