Evidence mapPaperPMID 36224031Full record

ArticleNeurology2023

Menopausal Vasomotor Symptoms and White Matter Hyperintensities in Midlife Women.

Rebecca C Thurston, Minjie Wu, Yue-Fang Chang, Howard J Aizenstein, Carol A Derby, Emma A Barinas-Mitchell, Pauline Maki

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neurology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
28citing papers in PubMed
6.4field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

28 citing papers in PubMed, 49 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Evidence of APOE4-related brain vulnerabilities in verbal memory systems in midlife women.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Article
  3. Women's midlife: the front line of Alzheimer prevention.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2026
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Cardiovascular contributions to dementia: Examining sex differences and female-specific factors.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
    Review
  10. Premenopausal bilateral oophorectomy and Alzheimer's disease imaging biomarkers later in life.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. One size does not fit all: how type of menopause and hormone therapy matters for brain health.The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 2025
    Review
  14. Reproductive hormones in relation to white matter hyperintensity volumes among midlife women.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2024
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Menopausal vasomotor symptoms and plasma Alzheimer disease biomarkers.American journal of obstetrics and gynecology · 2024
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Rebecca C ThurstonFrom the Department of Psychiatry (R.C.T., M.W., H.J.A.), Epidemiology (R.C.T., E.A.B.-M.), Psychology (R.C.T.), and Neurosurgery (Y.-F.C.), University of Pittsburgh, PA; Department of Neurology and Epidemiology and Population Health (C.A.D.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; and Department of Psychiatry (P.M.), University of Illinois at Chicago, IL. thurstonrc@upmc.edu.ORCID 0000-0001-6580-1202
Minjie WuFrom the Department of Psychiatry (R.C.T., M.W., H.J.A.), Epidemiology (R.C.T., E.A.B.-M.), Psychology (R.C.T.), and Neurosurgery (Y.-F.C.), University of Pittsburgh, PA; Department of Neurology and Epidemiology and Population Health (C.A.D.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; and Department of Psychiatry (P.M.), University of Illinois at Chicago, IL.
Yue-Fang ChangFrom the Department of Psychiatry (R.C.T., M.W., H.J.A.), Epidemiology (R.C.T., E.A.B.-M.), Psychology (R.C.T.), and Neurosurgery (Y.-F.C.), University of Pittsburgh, PA; Department of Neurology and Epidemiology and Population Health (C.A.D.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; and Department of Psychiatry (P.M.), University of Illinois at Chicago, IL.
Howard J AizensteinFrom the Department of Psychiatry (R.C.T., M.W., H.J.A.), Epidemiology (R.C.T., E.A.B.-M.), Psychology (R.C.T.), and Neurosurgery (Y.-F.C.), University of Pittsburgh, PA; Department of Neurology and Epidemiology and Population Health (C.A.D.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; and Department of Psychiatry (P.M.), University of Illinois at Chicago, IL.ORCID 0000-0003-4897-6582
Carol A DerbyFrom the Department of Psychiatry (R.C.T., M.W., H.J.A.), Epidemiology (R.C.T., E.A.B.-M.), Psychology (R.C.T.), and Neurosurgery (Y.-F.C.), University of Pittsburgh, PA; Department of Neurology and Epidemiology and Population Health (C.A.D.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; and Department of Psychiatry (P.M.), University of Illinois at Chicago, IL.ORCID 0000-0002-5657-4519
Emma A Barinas-MitchellFrom the Department of Psychiatry (R.C.T., M.W., H.J.A.), Epidemiology (R.C.T., E.A.B.-M.), Psychology (R.C.T.), and Neurosurgery (Y.-F.C.), University of Pittsburgh, PA; Department of Neurology and Epidemiology and Population Health (C.A.D.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; and Department of Psychiatry (P.M.), University of Illinois at Chicago, IL.ORCID 0000-0002-7280-7781
Pauline MakiFrom the Department of Psychiatry (R.C.T., M.W., H.J.A.), Epidemiology (R.C.T., E.A.B.-M.), Psychology (R.C.T.), and Neurosurgery (Y.-F.C.), University of Pittsburgh, PA; Department of Neurology and Epidemiology and Population Health (C.A.D.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; and Department of Psychiatry (P.M.), University of Illinois at Chicago, IL.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine · US

Funding

Menopausal Vasomotor Symptoms and Brain Aging in WomenR01AG053504 · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2025 to 2025
$760k
Interdisciplinary Mentoring and Research in Womens Cardiovascular HealthK24HL123565 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI REBECCA C THURSTON · 2023 to 2023
$112k
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR000005NCRR NIH HHS S10 RR023461NHLBI NIH HHS K24 HL123565NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL105647NIA NIH HHS R01 AG053504NIA NIH HHS RF1 AG053504
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

objectivesThe menopause transition is increasingly recognized as a time of importance for women's brain health. A growing body of work indicates that the classic menopausal symptom, vasomotor symptom (VMS), may be associated with poorer cardiovascular health. Other work links VMS to poorer cognition. We investigate whether VMS, when rigorously assessed using physiologic measures, are associated with greater white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV) among midlife women. We consider a range of potential explanatory factors in these associations and explore whether VMS are associated with the spatial distribution of WMHV.

methodsWomen aged 45-67 years and free of hormone therapy underwent 24 hours of physiologic VMS monitoring (sternal skin conductance), actigraphy assessment of sleep, physical measures, phlebotomy, and 3 Tesla neuroimaging. Associations between VMS (24-hour, wake, and sleep VMS, with wake and sleep intervals defined by actigraphy) and whole brain WMHV were considered in linear regression models adjusted for age, race, education, smoking, body mass index, blood pressure, insulin resistance, and lipids. Secondary models considered WMHV in specific brain regions (deep, periventricular, frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital) and additional covariates including sleep.

resultsThe study sample included 226 women. Physiologically assessed VMS were associated with greater whole brain WMHV in multivariable models, with the strongest associations observed for sleep VMS (24-hour VMS, B[SE] = 0.095 [0.045], DISCUSSION: VMS, particularly VMS occurring during sleep, were associated with greater WMHV. Identification of female-specific midlife markers of poor brain health later in life is critical to identify women who warrant early intervention and prevention. VMS have the potential to serve as female-specific midlife markers of brain health in women.

Indexed as

White MatterAgedBrainFemaleHumansMenopauseMiddle AgedPolysomnographyWomen's Health

Identifiers

PMID36224031
PMCPMC9841446
OpenAlexW4304807891

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.