The Maternal Brain: Investigating effects of Parity on Brain Structure and Risk for Dementia in Postmenopausal Women

These preliminary findings suggest that having one child may be linked to reduced hippocampal GMV and poorer memory in postmenopausal women, whereas having multiple children was not associated with these outcomes. Given the hippocampus' role in memory and AD pathology, parity may be a factor in women's heightened AD risk. Future analyses will explore how hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and loneliness modulate these relationships, providing deeper insight into cognitive aging and AD vulnerability in women.