Hot Flashes Cause Memory Problems - Research, Quality Of Life

2023 Author: Oswald Adamson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 20:18

New research suggests that if you have difficulty finding words to express your thoughts clearly or can't remember a story accurately enough, the cause may be due to hot flashes associated with menopause. Hot flashes are one of the causes of memory problems

Research reports that physiological hot flashes are associated with impairment of verbal memory and with changes in the brain's way of coding and retrieving memories. This is especially true for the activity of the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. The study is published in the journal Menopause (journal of the North American Society for the Study of Menopause SAOIM).

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Previous research has shown that women during menopause experience memory impairment for verbal material such as words and stories.

The new study used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to document physiological hot flashes and their specific effects on hippocampus and prefrontal cortex function during memory coding and recognition tasks.

The merit of the study, the researchers note, is to use monitoring of physiological hot flashes to link hot flashes to memory problems reported by the patient, and to use functional MRI to assess changes in memory during testing in real time.

More research is needed to fully appreciate the robustness of the established relationship between hot flushes and changes in brain function. However, the study is already leading to a new look at the specific regions of the brain responsible for memory that are negatively affected by hot flashes, the scientists added.

“The results of this preliminary study, albeit minor ones, support a link between observable hot flashes and negative functional changes in the brain that affect memory. Further research is needed to determine if hot flashes actually cause these changes in the brain and whether treatment for hot flashes can prevent or normalize them,”says Dr. Stephanie Fobon, medical director of SAOIM.

• By Janice Wood
• Translated by Kiril Melamud