Levels of a female sex hormone play a key role in memory recall
- US researchers found that levels of the hormone estradiol affected recall
- Estradiol is a type of oestrogen, a female sex hormone
- Tests found that after menopause, a woman’s memory starts to decline
- Post-menopausal women still outstripped men in all memory measures
Colin Fernandez for the Daily Mail
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Women have much better memories than men, a study has found.
Whether it comes to remembering events, faces or to-do lists, women win hands down, according to researchers.
After menopause, a woman’s memory starts to decline compared to younger members of her sex, but tests found that post-menopausal women still outstripped men in all memory measures.
And the female memory advantage lasted until very old age, when women are at greater risk of memory impairment and dementia than men.
American researchers found that levels of the female sex hormone estradiol, a type of oestrogen, affected recall, meaning women had better memories than men
The American researchers found that levels of the female sex hormone estradiol, a type of oestrogen, affected recall.
They suggest that anecdotal reports of ‘brain fog’ among women going through the menopause may be connected with a reduction in memory skills due to falling hormone levels.
In the study, 212 men and women aged from 45 to 55 were assessed for a variety of measures of memory and other mental skills. Of the women, 34 per cent had not had the menopause, 28 per cent were just about to undergo the menopause, and 30 per cent had undergone the menopause. None of the women was undergoing any form of hormone replacement therapy.
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The tests included being able to correctly associate a name with a face, and remembering lists. The researchers said ‘middle-aged women still outscore their similarly aged male counterparts on all memory measures’.
Levels of the hormone oestradiol, a form of oestrogen, in the blood may play a key role in why memory is better in women before the menopause.
The hormone is thought to strengthen ‘circuits’ in the brain connected with memory, the study said.
The study suggested that anecdotal reports of ‘brain fog’ among women going through the menopause may be connected with a reduction in memory skills due to falling hormone levels
It found ‘declines in oestradiol levels in post-menopausal women were specifically associated with lower rates of initial learning and retrieval of previously recalled information, while memory storage and consolidation were maintained’.
Complaints from menopausal women of ‘brain fog’ or forgetfulness have often been associated with job stress and multiple life roles rather than an effect of hormones caused by the menopause, the authors said.
But they added not all women experience worse memory after the menopause, and it ‘remains unclear’ why some women experience these changes more acutely than others.
Dr JoAnn Pinkerton, executive director of the North American Menopause Society, said: ‘Brain fog and complaints of memory issues should be taken seriously.’
She added: ‘This study and others have shown that these complaints are associated with memory deficits.’
The Harvard Medical School research was published in Menopause: Journal of the North American Menopause Society.
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