Women's brains undergo changes throughout their lives, including during puberty, pregnancy and menopause.
According to Professor Ramunė Grikšienė of Vilnius University, hormones play an important role in these changes, the university explains in a press release.
Levels of the hormone oestrogen rise during puberty and pregnancy, while they decline during menopause.
Hormonal changes may also be linked to mood swings, emotions and memory.
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However, researchers do not yet fully understand how these factors are connected.
The brain undergoes changes
In a new Dutch study published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers examined brain scans from more than 1,000 women and girls.
The findings show that the volume of grey matter in the brain decreases during both puberty and pregnancy.
During puberty, grey matter volume decreases by an average of 0.13 per cent per month. During pregnancy, the decline is around 0.11 to 0.12 per cent.
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According to Grikšienė, this is not necessarily a negative development. The changes may reflect the brain adapting to new tasks and demands.
Unexpected findings during menopause
The researchers also investigated what happens to the brain when women enter menopause.
The brain normally becomes gradually smaller with age. Researchers therefore expected this trend to continue during menopause.
However, the study revealed something different.
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Among women who went through menopause during the study period, researchers found no clear decline in total grey matter volume.
By contrast, a decrease was observed in women who had either not yet entered menopause or had already gone through it.
According to Grikšienė, this could suggest that the brain's normal ageing process temporarily slows down or changes during menopause.
However, the researchers emphasise that further studies are needed before any firm conclusions can be drawn.
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This article is made and published by Ida-Marie Palm Varbæk, who may have used AI in the preparation.