Women’s health through the lens of neuroscience
Hormones change the brain. The brain changes everything.
The cycle, pregnancy, menopause, mood, sleep and memory, explained through what happens in the brain. Every article is based on peer-reviewed research and checked by a neuroscientist.
5.5 : 1
the ratio of male-only to female-only studies among single-sex neuroscience animal studies in 2009
Why we talk about the brain
For a long time, science studied the female body far less than the male body, and hormonal fluctuations were treated as noise. Today we know that the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and menopause change the structure and activity of the brain. That is where many symptoms find their explanation, from “brain fog” to insomnia.
Source: Beery and Zucker, 2011, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.
Topics
Each topic is about how a particular life stage or condition is reflected in the brain.
Articles
Every article is based on peer-reviewed research. You will find the sources at the end of each article.
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Miscarriage leaves a mark on mental health too
15 October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Loss in early pregnancy often stays invisible,…
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Your brain changes along with your cycle
The menstrual cycle affects more than the uterus. As hormones shift across the month, so do…
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Pregnancy remodels the brain
Pregnancy changes more than the body. Brain research shows that motherhood also begins in the structure…
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Menopause is a transition for the brain, not just the ovaries
Hot flushes, poor sleep, mood swings and distractibility have a common denominator: the brain. During menopause…
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“Brain fog” in menopause: real and usually temporary
Forgetting words, finding it harder to concentrate, feeling like your head isn’t your own? Research shows…
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Why Alzheimer’s disease affects women more often
Almost two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease are women. For a long time this was explained…
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Why women are twice as likely to have depression
Women are about twice as likely as men to develop depression, and the gap appears as…
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PMS or PMDD: when premenstrual symptoms become a disorder
Most women notice changes before their period, but for some it becomes a week when life…
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Migraine and hormones: why headaches strike before your period
Migraine is one of the most disabling neurological diseases in the world. It affects women more…
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Insomnia: why women sleep worse
Insomnia is more common in women than in men, and the gap widens with age. The…
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Hormonal contraception and mood
Many women notice a change in mood after starting the contraceptive pill. Large Danish studies suggest…
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Endometriosis: a disease that takes years to diagnose
Endometriosis affects roughly one in ten women of reproductive age, yet it often takes many years…
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PCOS and mood: more than a hormonal disorder
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is usually associated with irregular periods and fertility. But research shows that…
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Thyroid and mood: when fatigue isn’t “just stress”
Autoimmune inflammation of the thyroid, most often Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, can be linked to depression and anxiety.…
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Postpartum depression: more common than we thought
The time after giving birth is supposed to be happy, but for many women it is…
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“Baby brain”: real, but small
Many pregnant women complain of absent-mindedness and forgetfulness. A meta-analysis shows that this is true, but…
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Night-time hot flushes and brain health
Hot flushes are often seen as just an unpleasant symptom of menopause. A small but interesting…
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Hormone therapy and dementia: why age matters
Does hormone therapy protect the brain? One of the largest randomised trials showed that in older…
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Menopause and sleep: why you wake up at night
Many women start sleeping badly in perimenopause. Long-term studies show that sleep problems become more common…
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Stroke: the risk is even higher for women
Stroke is often thought of as a man’s disease, but over a lifetime it strikes about…
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Multiple sclerosis and pregnancy: what research shows
Multiple sclerosis is often diagnosed in young women, so the question of pregnancy is very important.…
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ADHD in women: why it so often goes unnoticed
ADHD is often pictured as a disorder of restless boys. Experts stress that in girls and…
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Autism in girls: the real ratio is different from what we thought
For a long time autism was thought to be four times more common in boys. A…
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Anxiety: almost twice as common in women
Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health conditions in the world. In women they…
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Post-traumatic stress: why the risk is higher for women
Not every trauma leads to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But one of the most consistent findings…
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Pain and sex: why pain science was “male”
Most people living with chronic pain are women. Yet for a long time pain was studied…
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Pre-eclampsia and brain health later in life
Pre-eclampsia is a pregnancy complication in which blood pressure rises. A large Danish study suggests it…
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Exercise as medicine for depression
Does exercise really help with depression? A large 2024 meta-analysis shows that it does, and even…
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Food and mood: what the SMILES trial showed
Can what we eat affect depression? The first randomised trial of its kind showed that improving…
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Iron and fatigue: low ferritin without anaemia
Menstruating women often have low iron stores, even when their haemoglobin is normal. A randomised trial…
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Preventing dementia: 14 things we can change
Dementia is not just a consequence of age or genes. An international expert commission estimated that…
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Myth or fact?
“Menopause brain fog lasts for the rest of your life.”
Myth
A large study that followed 2,362 women for four years found that memory difficulties in perimenopause are temporary and resolve after menopause.
Greendale et al., 2009, Neurology · Read the article →
Scientific editor
Dr Nemira Žilinskaitė-Tranas
Neuroscientist. She completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge, at the Gurdon Institute, where she studied the mechanisms of neural stem cell quiescence. She now researches how synapses change as brain circuits mature at the Life Sciences Center – EMBL Partnership Institute, Vilnius University. She is also studying medicine at Vilnius University and is the founder of the Women in STEM initiative.
Every claim has a linked source.
We separate association from causation and point out the limits of studies.
Scientifically accurate, yet simple and warm.