A new study led by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) suggests that women’s reproductive histories – including time spent pregnant and time spent breastfeeding – may be associated with slightly better cognitive performance decades later in postmenopausal life.
The findings, published in the Alzheimer’s & Dementia journal, add to our understanding of how pregnancy and breastfeeding relate to women’s brain health across the lifespan.
About the Study
Researchers analysed data from two large long-term cohorts – the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study and the Women’s Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging – which together tracked more than 7,000 women (average age around 70) for up to 13 years.
Participants’ reproductive histories were assessed alongside annual cognitive tests measuring global cognition, verbal memory and visual memory.
Key Findings
- Women who had ever been pregnant had higher cognitive scores in later life compared with those who had never been pregnant.
- A longer cumulative duration of breastfeeding was also associated with modest increases in cognitive, verbal and visual memory scores.
- On average, every additional month pregnant or breastfeeding was linked with a small incremental increase in global cognitive ability and memory performance – effects comparable to other known protective factors such as physical activity and not smoking.
On average, every additional month pregnant or breastfeeding was linked with a small incremental increase in global cognitive ability and memory performance
While these correlations are statistically significant, the absolute differences in scores are small and should not be interpreted as causal or deterministic. The researchers emphasise that other factors – including lifestyle, education, social support and genetics – also play major roles in long-term brain health.
Why This Matters
Women are disproportionately affected by conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive decline, and the causes are not fully understood. This research highlights a potential link between reproductive experience and cognitive resilience in later life.
Women are disproportionately affected by conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive decline, and the causes are not fully understood.
It also helps shift the narrative – moving beyond short-term phenomena like “mommy brain” to consider possible long-term neurocognitive outcomes associated with reproductive history.
Caveats and Next Steps
It’s important to stress that this study is observational and cannot prove that pregnancy or breastfeeding causes better cognitive function later in life. The mechanisms behind the association remain unclear, and future research is needed to explore biological, social and behavioural pathways that could contribute to these findings.
You can read more about the study here.
