How life and neighborhood stress affect memory and thinking during menopause
Lifecourse stressors and trajectories of neurocognitive health across the menopausal transition
This project follows women through the menopausal transition to learn how stress across life and in neighborhoods relates to sleep, mood, and changes in memory and thinking.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Brigham and Women's Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11167093 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers will follow groups of midlife women over time, collecting information about stressful experiences across their lives and aspects of the neighborhoods where they live. Participants will report symptoms like hot flashes, sleep problems, anxiety or depression, and complete tests of memory and thinking at multiple visits. The team will link these personal and neighborhood stress measures with changes in cognitive function across and after menopause to find patterns over time. Findings may include identifying modifiable stress-related factors that track with early signs of cognitive decline.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are midlife women approaching, undergoing, or recently past the menopausal transition who can take part in repeated visits and symptom or cognitive testing.
Not a fit: Men, younger premenopausal women far from menopause, or people with advanced dementia are unlikely to be eligible or to benefit directly from participating.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to stress-related targets and community changes that reduce women’s risk of memory problems and dementia after menopause.
How similar studies have performed: Prior research links menopausal symptoms and midlife mood or sleep problems with later cognitive decline, but few long-term studies have combined life-course and neighborhood stress measures in this way, so the approach is partly supported but also novel.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Brigham and Women's Hospital — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Oken, Emily — Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Study coordinator: Oken, Emily
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.