Researchers say there may be something to anecdotal reports that women are more likely to forget things as menopause approaches. The findings, from a study by scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center, were recently reported at the annual meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society.

Interestingly, the researchers said that they found the issue is not really impaired memory, but rather the way middle-aged women "encode" new information in their brains. "This is not what most people think of traditionally when they think of memory loss," said researcher Mark Mapstone. "It feels like a memory problem, but the cause is different. It feels like you can't remember, but that's because you never really learned the information in the first place."

The research team said they see a steady stream of patients reporting memory problems as they approach menopause. "We see a lot of women who are afraid they are losing their minds," said co-researcher Miriam Weber. "A lot of women complain that their thinking or their memory isn't what it used to be. Their big fear is that it's early Alzheimer's disease."

But Weber and Mapstone found no evidence that women approaching menopause suffer from memory problems any more than anyone else – of the women tested, they found only one who had any type of impaired memory, where a person forgets things she once knew or remembered.

However, they did find that the women who complained more about forgetfulness had a harder time learning or "encoding" new information. The researchers liken the problem of encoding new information to a situation where a doctor tells a patient that something serious may be wrong and gives a lot of detail. But when the person gets home, they can hardly remember what the doctor said. The researchers said the patients never really heard the doctor the first time, because they were so anxious and worried.

The same "encoding problem" may be true of women approaching menopause, many of whom live a life filled with stress and worry, say the researchers. Indeed, Weber and Mapstone found that most of the women in their study had some sort of mood distress, including symptoms of depression or anxiety. "When people spread their attention thin, it's difficult to encode new information. When they're worried or anxious about being late for work, or the problems of an aging parent – that sort of stress can rob your attentional resources and impact your ability to encode information properly," said Mapstone.

"What characterizes these women is that they're being pulled in a lot of different directions. Many work – they have careers, aging parents and children. Then they're going through this dramatic hormonal change," Weber added. "There really is something going on. And perhaps knowing that their perceived problems with memory do not suggest early dementia might alleviate their concerns and actually improve their functioning – it's one less thing to worry about," she concluded.

Source: University of Rochester Medical Center

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