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“Menopause brain” is a real thing. Here’s what to do about it.

Updated November 11, 2022 at 10:26 AM ET

Part 4 of the TED Radio Hour episode Life Stages Of The Brain

We associate menopause with the ovaries, but its symptoms start in the brain. Neuroscientist Lisa Mosconi explains how brain health during menopause affects the rest of the body.

About Lisa Mosconi

Lisa Mosconi is a neuroscientist whose research focuses on women’s brain health. She is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience in Neurology and Radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, where she also serves as the Director of the Women’s Brain Initiative and Associate Director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic.

Mosconi is also the author of The XX Brain, a New York Times bestseller that shares insights on how women can protect and sustain their brains.

She received a five-year university degree in Experimental Psychology and Ph.D. in Neuroscience and Nuclear Medicine from the University of Florence, in collaboration with New York University School of Medicine.

This segment of TED Radio Hour was produced by Christina Cala and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at [email protected].

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Manoush Zomorodi is the host of TED Radio Hour. She is a journalist, podcaster and media entrepreneur, and her work reflects her passion for investigating how technology and business are transforming humanity.

Zomorodi is a co-founder of Stable Genius Productions and is the co-host and co-creator of ZigZag, the business podcast about being human. She also created, hosted, and was managing editor of the podcast Note to Self in partnership with WNYC Studios, which was named Best Tech Podcast of 2017 by The Academy of Podcasters.

Prior to her time at WNYC, Zomorodi reported and produced around the world for BBC News and Thomson Reuters, including a few years in Berlin.

She was named one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business for 2018 and has received numerous awards for her work, including The Gracie for Best Radio Host in 2014 and 2018. Her book "Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Creative Self" (2017, St. Martin's Press) and her TED Talk are guides to surviving information overload and the "Attention Economy."

Zomorodi received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in English and fine arts. She is half-Persian and half-Swiss but was born in New York City, where she lives with her family.

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