NIH Awards $3.4 Million to Study Menopause and Women's Alzheimer's Risk

A grant aimed at a gap in Alzheimer's research

Women account for nearly two-thirds of Americans living with Alzheimer's disease, according to the university. Why they are affected so disproportionately remains an important question in brain health research, and scientists at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFU) are investigating whether hormonal changes during menopause may hold part of the answer.

Holly Hunsberger, PhD, an assistant professor in the university's Center for Neurodegenerative Disease and Therapeutics, has received the five-year, $3.4 million grant from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The funding will support work on how changes in brain activity during perimenopause may contribute to vulnerability to Alzheimer's disease.

What the team will study

Perimenopause is the transitional period leading to menopause. It is marked by fluctuations in ovarian hormones, particularly estrogen, which play important roles in brain function. According to the university, some women experience little change in memory and thinking during this period, while others report more significant difficulties. Scientists still do not fully understand how the menopausal transition affects the brain's neural networks, or whether those changes may contribute to Alzheimer's disease.

The research will focus on the hippocampus, a brain region essential to learning and memory. Hunsberger's team will examine how hormonal changes affect communication between brain cells and whether disruptions in that connection may accelerate changes associated with Alzheimer's disease.

"We aim to determine how the menopausal transition alters hippocampal cell types and neural activity and how these changes may accelerate Alzheimer's disease pathology," Hunsberger said, according to the university. She added: "We believe perimenopause represents a critical biological transition during which changes in brain circuitry may increase vulnerability to memory impairment and mood-related symptoms."

The risk gap between women and men

The university cited figures from the Alzheimer's Association: women have a 1 in 5 lifetime risk of developing Alzheimer's at age 65, compared with 1 in 10 for men. RFU says understanding the biological factors behind this disparity could help researchers identify new approaches to protecting women's brain health as they age.

Janice Urban, PhD, RFU interim executive vice president for research, said the project "will deepen our understanding of these neural changes and, ultimately, may offer new insights into strategies to treat or prevent the progression of Alzheimer's disease among this large and growing population."

What it means

The work is basic research into brain circuitry, not a treatment trial, and the source does not report any findings yet. According to the university, by identifying how hormonal changes may affect brain circuitry, the study could advance scientists' understanding of Alzheimer's disease vulnerability and help inform future studies of women's brain health. For now, the grant signals continued federal investment in a question that affects a large share of those living with the disease.