News Briefs

The memory changes of menopause

Menopause can mess with your memory. A new study from researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) has identified four profiles of cognitive function that may help investigators understand why memory declines for some women and not others. These findings add to the mounting evidence of the memory changes that can happen when menopause approaches and could lead to better guidance and treatment for patients experiencing memory issues.

“If we understand what goes on cognitively for women during this time, we can help normalize the experience,” said Miriam Weber, Ph.D., associate professor of Neurology and Obstetrics and Gynecology, who is the first author of the study.

The study, published in the journal Climacteric, looked at data from 85 women ages 40-60 who were approaching or at the beginning of menopause. Women self-reported menopausal symptoms, had hormone levels measured, and took cognitive tests biannually for up to nine years. The data led investigators to identify four profiles of cognitive function a woman may experience: normal cognition, weakness in verbal learning and memory (the ability to learn new information and retain it over time), strength in verbal learning and memory, and strength in attention and executive function (the ability to multitask).

Researchers found that women experiencing a strength profile (strength in either verbal learning and memory or attention and executive function) had fewer depressive symptoms and hot flashes, while those experiencing cognitive weakness reported more sleep disturbances and symptoms of depression.

Weber’s previous work found that some women approaching menopause experienced declines in working memory – the ability to take in new information and manipulate it in their heads – and a woman’s ability to keep and focus attention on a challenging task. But these declines were not directly linked to hormones, according to Weber’s studies.

Silence and sound: The perfect timing to preserve hearing

A combination of sound and silence may be a key in helping slow the progression of permanent hearing loss. In a study published in the journal eNeuro, researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) found intermittent broadband sound played over an extended period of time preserved sensory cells in the ear, while also rewiring some of the central auditory system in the brain, helping preserve the ability to sense the timing of sounds.

“By showing that the detection of sound is being preserved in the brain, we're saying it's not just the hair cells in the ear, there's some connectivity in the central auditory system in the brain that is vital to hearing too,” said Adam Dziorny, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics and Biomedical Engineering, and first author of the study. “This isn’t a cure, but it could be a step that may lead to a treatment in the future.”

For 12-hour periods, researchers played a mix of broadband sound with gaps of silence for mice with sensorineural hearing loss – the most common type of hearing loss in humans caused by damage to hair cells or the nerve that connects the ear to the brain. Previous studies have shown the presence of broadband sound preserves structure and function of sensory cells in the ear. In this study, Dziorny explains, the gaps of silence allowed researchers to presume that rewiring was occurring in the brain itself within the central auditory system. These gaps are what preserved the mouse’s ability to sense the timing of sound.

“Past research has shown that the brain is capable of modifying its signaling to both the frequency and loudness of sounds. This study shows that the brain can also be trained to modify temporal aspects as well,” said Anne Luebke, Ph.D., associate professor of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering at URMC and coauthor of this study. Researchers see these findings as an important step toward demonstrating that children with sensorineural hearing loss have the potential to preserve function using an augmented acoustic stimulus.