Amsterdam UMC research reveals how pregnancy and menopause reshape the female brain

New research from the Pregnancy Brain Lab at Amsterdam UMC is providing unprecedented insights into how major hormonal phases—puberty, pregnancy, and menopause—reshape the female brain. Using MRI scans from over 1,000 participants, researchers found that the reduction in grey matter during pregnancy is comparable in scale and location to the changes seen during puberty. Lead neuroscientist Sophie van ‘t Hof notes that this reduction is not necessarily negative, suggesting the brain may be optimizing itself for new cognitive tasks.

Complementary findings highlight the significant impact of the perimenopause and menopause on women's lives. A survey by the medical platform SoFemale involving 850 women indicates that hormonal shifts are often underestimated, described as a ‘silent crisis’ in both private life and the workplace. Approximately 80 percent of women experience symptoms—ranging from mood swings to memory issues—that can persist for five to ten years, affecting roughly half of the female population.