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Research suggests that there may be gendered differences in rates of memory decline. While research on the subject has not always been consistent, it’s clear that men and women experience significantly different rates of memory decline throughout their life.

Once menopause begins, a significant amount of women begin to notice declines in verbal memory and attention processes. The menopausal transition causes significant hormone changes/imbalances; specifically, estrogen which has been known to impact memory throughout a woman’s entire life.

It was once decided that the difference in memory decline between genders was due to the typically longer lifespan of a woman, however, this has since been disproven. The difference between the lifespan of a male and female is not great enough to explain the additional onset of disease and memory decline that woman experience.

Alzheimer’s, however, does not discriminate when it comes to sexes. In the beginning of a diagnosis, women generally experience a much faster decline, and then plateau. Males usually take longer to decline and will often surpass women greatly in grey matter loss. Grey matter is the part of the brain that contains the neuronal cell bodies. These cells control muscle control, sensory perception and self-control. Thus, a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s often looks very different between men and women.

Over time, when as much as possible can be held constant, research shows that men are 50% more inclined to experience age related memory loss.