Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41249452›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

White matter microstructural and macrostructural profiles during midlife reveal sex differences between men and women at different menopausal stages.

Adam C Raikes, Jonathan P Dyke, Matilde Nerattini, Camila Boneu, Trisha Ajila, Francesca Fauci, Michael Battista, Silky Pahlajani, Schantel Williams, Roberta Diaz Brinton and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Adam C RaikesCenter for Innovation in Brain Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85719, USA. adamraikes@arizona.edu.
Jonathan P DykeDepartment of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Matilde NerattiniDepartment of Neurology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Camila BoneuDepartment of Neurology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Trisha AjilaDepartment of Neurology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Francesca FauciDepartment of Neurology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Michael BattistaDepartment of Neurology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Silky PahlajaniDepartment of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Schantel WilliamsDepartment of Neurology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10021, USA.
Roberta Diaz Brinton *Center for Innovation in Brain Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85719, USA.
Lisa Mosconi *Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10021, USA. lim2035@med.cornell.edu.

Funding

Timing of Menopausal Hormone Therapy across Perimenopause to Menopause Transition: Neuroimmune System in BrainP01AG026572 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI Adam C. Raikes · 2006 to 2026
$53.7M
NIA NIH HHS P01 AG026572NIA NIH HHS P01AG026572
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Women are at greater lifetime risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD), potentially due to midlife endocrine transition effects on bioenergetics and gray and white matter volumes. Key to effective neurotransmission is white matter integrity. In this cross-sectional diffusion-weighted imaging analysis, we investigated white matter micro- and macrostructure in 137 cognitively normal, midlife adults, including 34 premenopausal, 39 perimenopausal, 27 postmenopausal women, and 37 men. Compared to men, premenopausal and postmenopausal women exhibited greater fiber density and fiber density-cross-section (FDC) across most tracts as well as higher fractional anisotropy (FA) and lower mean diffusivity in the fornix and corpus callosum, indicating denser, more organized white matter. Perimenopausal women exhibited few differences in fiber cross-section and FDC and lower FA in the bilateral fornix, differing from what was observed in pre- and postmenopausal women. These cross-sectional results suggest menopause stage-dependent sex differences in white matter organization, coinciding with changes in estrogen availability. Importantly, the perimenopause emerges as a critical window of neural reorganization in the female midlife aging brain characterized by temporary convergence toward male-like white matter organization. Future longitudinal analyses are key to identifying women who do or do not revert to a premenopausal profile, which may inform AD risk.

Indexed as

MenopauseSex CharacteristicsWhite MatterAdultCross-Sectional StudiesDiffusion Magnetic Resonance ImagingDiffusion Tensor ImagingFemaleHumansMaleMiddle Aged

Identifiers

PMID41249452
PMCPMC12623426

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.