Lisa Mosconi > Quotes

“Given everything we’ve discovered about the relationship between hormones, menopause, and brain health, a larger question remains: Can the use of birth control affect the health of the brain? Oddly enough, even though more than 100 million women take the pill worldwide, there have been only a handful of studies dedicated to its effects on the brain.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The XX Brain: The Groundbreaking Science Empowering Women to Prevent Dementia

“Fun fact: At first, all children’s brains appear exactly the same—female. Yes, you heard right. Female is nature’s default brain setting. (Take that, too, Darwin.) It’s only after a surge in testosterone that boys’ brains begin to take on male attributes, which, if you recall from the previous chapter, means they become wired to respond more to testosterone.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“India has a spectacularly low incidence of Alzheimer’s as compared to more developed countries, even after accounting for their lower life expectancy rates.”
― Lisa Mosconi, Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power

“Many lines of evidence indicate that women’s brains have the remarkable, much underestimated, yet-to-be-celebrated ability to adapt to menopause. This information is just the beginning of unlocking menopause’s secrets and upgrading our experience of this important milestone in every woman’s life. 6 Putting Menopause in Context: The Three P’s”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“So here’s the million-dollar question: To what degree does menopause also deliver a customized update to your brain’s operating system? It is plausible that as the brain approaches menopause, it gets another chance to go leaner and meaner, discarding information and skills it no longer needs while growing new ones. For starters, some of the brain-ovary connections necessary to make babies are no longer needed, so arrivederci to that. But also all the neurologically expensive skills we reviewed in the last chapter—decoding baby talk, subduing temper tantrums, and high-level multitasking—are not as relevant once your birdie has flown the coop. They are still helpful, but not urgent. It only makes sense, then, that the brain would eventually start pruning away those expired connections—and what better biological clue to do so than menopause. Again, many believe that, as this latest and greatest brain update unfolds, that’s when hot flashes, brain fog, and other bothersome symptoms kick in. Once the update is complete, the symptoms start dissipating (which may take longer than the other two P’s because now we are . . . well, older). All this information is helpful to place menopause under a much broader lens. But where are the bonuses? Could it be that the menopausal brain morph might better equip us for our later years? Could menopause come with its own ingenuity, proving instrumental in preparing women for a new role in life as in society? Despite society having turned a blind eye toward any menopausal perks, there is increasing evidence that this profound hormonal event also bestows new meaning and purpose on women. HAPPINESS IS NOT A MYTH AFTER ALL Any major life transition can be a chance at reawakening, even if the road is rough.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“Moms do not sleep. Moms hover in a state of semi-consciousness, waiting for someone to need something.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The XX Brain

“menopause is a neurologically active process that impacts the brain in fairly unique ways.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“This broader, wiser view is built right into the brain of a grandmother, acting as a backup for her child while prioritizing the preciousness of unrestricted love. Personally, what I like most about these findings is the view of women’s responsibilities changing through our lifespan, whether one has biological children and grandchildren or doesn’t. I am moved by how many of us fulfill multiple roles, often beyond blood ties—and how our brains appear to adjust and adapt to the current circumstances, at all ages and in all walks of life. In this spirit, in the next chapter we will spotlight how women’s brains continue to kaleidoscope into fresh talents and strengths for a lifetime of use, as we delve into the evolutionary significance of menopause. 8 The Why of Menopause”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“While the work of overcoming the stigma does not fall upon women alone, speaking out loud in our collective voice has the power to yield significant impact.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“Coconut water is Nature’s thirst quencher, being low in sugar while still providing you with the potassium you’re looking for.”
― Lisa Mosconi, Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power

“In clinical trials, desvenlafaxine was shown to reduce hot flashes by 62 percent and to lessen their severity by 25 percent. Escitalopram reduced hot flash severity by about 50 percent. On the other hand, common antidepressants such as fluoxetine (Prozac) and sertraline (Zoloft) do not work as well for menopausal symptoms as the other antidepressants listed.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“There is an unfortunate flaw in Western medicine’s approach to health, in that it’s based on the premise that there is nothing one can do to prevent a disease from settling in. Consequently, as a society, we typically wait until we’re already burdened by an issue, then look to surgery or the latest and greatest pharmaceuticals to rid ourselves of whatever health problems we’re experiencing.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The XX Brain

“For example, George J. Romanes, a leading evolutionary biologist and physiologist of the time, went on to say this: “Seeing that the average brain-weight of women is about five ounces less than that of men, on merely anatomical ground we should be prepared to expect a marked inferiority of intellectual power in the former.” These assumptions were by no means unique, as most intellectuals back then were perfectly comfortable embracing an interpretation that suited the status quo. Those “missing five ounces” of women’s brains were thus used to justify the difference in the social status between men and women, cementing the denial of women’s access to higher education or to other rights that might have rendered them independent”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“While there is a shortage of reliable science regarding menopause, there is certainly no lack of misleading claims or even misogyny surrounding this topic. In popular culture, menopausal women have often been portrayed through a distressing lens of erratic moods and explosive rages. We’re all too familiar with the stereotype of the belligerent menopausal woman, tormented by hot flashes and mood swings, depicted as causing turmoil for her unfortunate and exasperated husband. This view is nothing new. It is deeply rooted in centuries, even millennia, of deep-seated patriarchal mistrust of female bodies. Ready for this? MENOPAUSE AND THE ANTI-MENOPAUSE MOVEMENT”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“Further, dozens of studies since then have provided reassurance that for healthy women experiencing the symptoms of menopause, the benefits of taking hormones—given at lower doses and often via the transdermal route—generally outweigh the risks.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“You’ve heard that right. One of the more surprising things I’ve learned is that postmenopausal women are generally happier than younger ones—and generally happier than they themselves were before menopause. According to several studies, some of the most notable and overlooked upsides of menopause revolve around better mental health and greater contentment with life. In the Australian Women’s Healthy Ageing Project, for example, postmenopausal women reported improved mood, more patience, less tension, and feeling less withdrawn as they entered their sixties and seventies. Similar results hail from studies conducted in Denmark, where postmenopausal women shared experiencing a stronger sense of well-being after menopause, with 62 percent stating that they felt, indeed, happy and satisfied.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“This also goes a long way to explaining why menopausal women have a reputation for emotional volatility. When you can’t get a decent night’s rest for months, let alone years at a time, and you’re dealing not only with the flashes but also with clinical-level sleep deprivation . . . being in a bad mood seems unavoidable.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“If you want to make sure your brain has enough opportunities to clean itself, guard your sleep, especially during the first part of the night.”
― Lisa Mosconi, Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power

“Epigenetics refers to the fact that while your lifestyle choices won’t modify the structure of your DNA, they do have the ability to modify the way your DNA works.”
― Lisa Mosconi, Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power

“ovarian preservation after menopause might still lower the risk of osteoporosis, heart disease and stroke later in life. As a result, current guidelines recommend ovarian conservation for postmenopausal women with no genetic or additional risks who are undergoing hysterectomy for benign reasons”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“It is this continuous exposure to food that makes diet the most important factor ever to affect our DNA.”
― Lisa Mosconi, Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power

“Over three-quarters of all women develop brain symptoms during menopause.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“Notably, many postmenopausal women also report that emotions like sadness and anger don’t hold quite the same charge as they once did, while the capacity to sustain joy, wonder, and gratitude often increases. There is a neurological reason for these shifts. Among other things, all the rearrangements in the menopausal brain may result in yet another upgrade to some networks involved in the theory of mind. Only this time, the transition brings forth better emotional control. If you recall from the previous chapters, how we respond to emotionally charged situations depends partly on how we’re wired in our brains. Connections related to the emotion-processing amygdala versus the impulse-controlling prefrontal cortex can influence our approach. Puberty asks us to lean into the prefrontal cortex’s rationale, whereas pregnancy attunes us to our instincts (while striking a balance between our emotions and our head). Now it’s menopause’s turn. This time around, we are about to fine-tune the emotional amygdala in a highly selective and precise way: it becomes less reactive to negative emotional stimulation!”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“As the prefrontal cortex further develops, teens become better equipped to resist impulses and assess potential risks. At the same time, they develop the ability to put themselves in another person’s shoes, a capacity that is often called theory of mind, or mentalizing. This uniquely human superpower allows us to understand other people’s intentions and beliefs. In doing so, we can extrapolate from this data to understand and predict behavior while also better integrating ourselves into society. Today, scientists attribute this remarkable capacity to the puberty-fueled brain revamp.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“In other words, the hormones inextricably involved with our fertility, with estrogen leading the charge, turned out to be just as crucial in the overall functioning of our minds. To give you a sense of how recent a finding this is, men had walked on the moon thirty years prior. During those same thirty years on earth, scores of women had been taking hormones in spite of the fact that nobody had a clue about how estrogen really worked from the neck up.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“Notably, the term estrogen itself was derived from the Greek oistros, which means frenzy or mad desire—further reinforcing a historical trend to frame female physiology through the lens of mental instability.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“That’s because the brains of people born with ovaries, scientists have learned in recent decades, are genetically engineered to respond preferentially to the estrogen made by said ovaries. As it turns out, day in and day out, estrogen molecules slide right into the brain, searching for special receptors that are shaped precisely for this hormone. The receptors are like tiny locks, waiting for the right molecular key (estrogen) to turn them on. This is a vivid image for a crucial idea: women’s brains are hardwired to receive estrogen. Once it arrives, estrogen latches on to these receptors, activating a windfall of cellular activities in the process. Loaded with these receptors, our brains are ready-made to be estrogen-fueled.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain

“Legend says Countess Elizabeth Báthory, the most prolific female serial killer in history, murdered hundreds of her young servants so she could take baths in their blood and preserve her youthful looks.”
― Lisa Mosconi, Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power

“In particular, vitamin E (from almonds or flaxseeds) and vitamin C (from citrus, berries, and a variety of veggies) are the body’s main antioxidant defenders.”
― Lisa Mosconi, Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power

“The hormonal chaos of midlife can set off changes not only in body temperature but also in mood, sleep patterns, stress levels, libido, and cognitive performance. Importantly, these shifts can occur without any hot flashes. Furthermore, some women develop neurological occurrences like dizzy spells, fatigue, headaches, and migraines. Meanwhile, others report more extreme symptoms, including severe depression, intense anxiety, panic attacks, and even what’s referred to as electric shock sensations. All these symptoms originate not in the ovaries, but in the brain. Yet despite significant progress in understanding the bodily aspects of menopause, we are only just beginning to grasp the full impact of the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive shifts that can arise during this transition.”
― Lisa Mosconi, The Menopause Brain