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

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 e

SUBMITTER: Raikes AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12623426 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature