Sixty percent of women report cognitive difficulties, including “brain fog” during menopause. Many describe their struggle to retrieve common words or be as productive as they were previously. Others feel like their brain jumps from one thing to another or that they are less “sharp” because their thoughts/memories now flow more slowly. All of these symptoms intensify when people feel stressed or anxious.

We are so fortunate that Dr. Neill Epperson will speak with us about the connection between the loss of estrogen during perimenopause and menopause and our cognitive functioning. She will explain how we can differentiate between brain fog/other menopausal cognitive challenges that are “normal” or not normal; how long these challenges may last; and the actions women can take to relieve them, whether behavioral, therapeutic, or medicinal. If you are experiencing brain effects during perimenopause and/or menopause, you will feel better knowing that you are not alone, and it is “not all in your heads.” Dr. Epperson will be answering all the why-what-and-how’s of this subject – so come prepared with your questions (maybe write them down in advance? 😀)

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About the Speaker(s):

Dr. C. Neill Epperson, MD, is a psychiatrist internationally known for her unique lifespan approach to women’s reproductive, behavioral, and cognitive health in her clinical, teaching, leadership and scholarly endeavors. At the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus, she is the Robert Freedman Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry; the Executive Director of the Helen E. and Arthur Johnson Depression Center; and a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine.

Before being recruited to CU-Anschutz, Dr. Epperson served as the founder and director of both the Penn Center for Women’s Behavioral Wellness and Penn PROMOTES, Research on Sex and Gender in Health at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, with a secondary appointment in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Epperson’s research has been consistently funded by the National Institutes of Health for more than 2 decades. She is a productive mentor and independent investigator with more than 250 peer-reviewed publications and abstracts.