Approved Research

Assessing the impact of sex-specific life events on women's brain health

Lay summary

Although some brain diseases are known to affect women and men differently (e.g., Alzheimer's disease), most studies neglect this effect, creating a troubling gap in research data. Some events that might contribute to this discrepancy are pregnancy and menopause, and in fact, these events have been shown to alter the brain, with a significant risk increase for impairment later in life. Nevertheless, there are still very few studies on this topic.

This project will last approximately 3 years and will investigate the health of the female brain. This will be achieved using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data as well as cognitive, genetic, demographic information.

The outcomes of this project will have a significant impact not only on understanding the impact of life events on brain health and function, but it will also highlight the critical, but often neglected, aspect of female representation in health research.