AARP Hearing Center
Women 35 and older may benefit during the menopause transition by engaging in six key brain-healthy behaviors, according to a recent AARP Research study.
The six brain-healthy behaviors — maintaining a well-balanced diet, staying social, exercising, managing stress, regularly getting enough restorative sleep and engaging in mentally stimulating activities — all have the potential to aid women as they approach, enter and transition to postmenopause. Women who regularly undertake these brain-healthy behaviors tend to experience benefits to their mental health and well-being regardless of where they are in the menopause transition.
The protective benefits, however, are particularly pronounced during perimenopause — the time leading up to menopause, which typically begins in a woman’s mid-40s and lasts between two and eight years. (Menopause is the period when menstruation ceases and a woman has gone a full 12 months without a menstrual period or spotting.) It’s during perimenopause that women fare worse on mental health outcomes, compared to other women. Not only are they more likely to experience stress, brain fog, focus issues, fatigue, forgetfulness and other brain-related challenges, but they may also encounter such common symptoms as hot flashes, night sweats, joint and muscle pain, irritability or weight gain. In the postmenopause stage, symptoms tend to ease, but many still experience them.
Brain-healthy behaviors are a tool
The good news is that women at all stages of menopause who engage in brain-healthy behaviors at least three times a week have better mental health outcomes and fewer brain-health challenges compared to women who engage in these behaviors less often.
Women who regularly adopt the brain-healthy behaviors at least three days per week have higher levels of mental well-being and lower levels of depression, anxiety and stress compared to women overall.
Addressing brain fog
The benefit of brain-healthy behaviors is particularly positive with respect to the common complaint of brain fog. For U.S. women 35 or older, those who engage in all six brain-healthy behaviors at least three days per week are less likely to experience brain fog — even in perimenopause.
More than half of women (62%) experience brain fog at least sometimes when they engage in two brain-healthy behaviors at least three days per week. But when women engage in all six brain-healthy behaviors, less than a quarter (23%) experience brain fog.
For women in the perimenopause stage, the benefit of regularly adopting all six brain-healthy behaviors is striking, with 69% reporting brain fog when engaging in two behaviors three days a week compared to 44% reporting the symptom when engaging in all six behaviors three times a week.
Brain fog is an important factor to measure because its presence is tied to other mental health outcomes. Those who currently experience brain fog, regardless of the stage of menopause, have lower average mental well-being scores and higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress.
Methodology
The AARP study focused on brain and mental health outcomes during the different stages of menopause (premenopause, perimenopause and postmenopause) along with their relationship to engagement in brain-healthy behaviors.
The online survey of 1,413 women 35 or older was conducted June 17 to 30, 2025, and took an average of 12.7 minutes to complete. This sample of women represents a subset of the overall sample (n=3,596). The data were weighted based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey and the American Community Survey.
For more information, please contact Laura Mehegan at lmehegan@aarp.org. For media inquiries, contact External Relations at media@aarp.org.
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