The Fact
Perimenopause is not only a reproductive transition. Neuroendocrine research describes it as a neurological transition. Symptoms that can accompany changing estrogen signaling include disturbed sleep, changes in circadian regulation, sensory changes, cognitive problems such as forgetfulness or difficulty concentrating, mood changes, anxiety, irritability, and temperature-regulation symptoms. Estrogen regulates brain signaling and energy metabolism, and human imaging shows menopause-related changes in brain structure, connectivity, and energy metabolism.
What This Means
A woman who suddenly feels foggy, anxious, irritable, forgetful, unable to sleep, or simply “not like herself” may be experiencing physical changes in brain and endocrine signaling. Those experiences can look emotional from the outside while the machinery producing them is physiological.
Calling a neurological or neuroendocrine symptom “behavior” does not explain what caused it. Women need the biological information so they can recognize that a change in how they feel or function can be a body signal—not a character defect.
Sources
- Brinton RD, Yao J, Yin F, Mack WJ, Cadenas E. Perimenopause as a neurological transition state. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2015;11:393–405. doi:10.1038/nrendo.2015.82. https://www.nature.com/articles/nrendo.2015.82
- Mosconi L et al. Menopause impacts human brain structure, connectivity, energy metabolism, and amyloid-beta deposition. Sci Rep. 2021;11:10867. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-90084-y