Pregnancy, Breastfeeding Linked to Cognitive Ability After Menopause

TUESDAY, Feb. 24, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Pregnancy and breastfeeding are associated with stronger long-term cognitive ability among postmenopausal women, according to a study published online Jan. 7 in Alzheimer”s & Dementia.

Molly M. Fox, Ph.D., from the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues examined the long-term cognitive health implications of the structural and functional changes that occur during pregnancy and lactation in a study involving 7,427 women from the Women”s Health Initiative (WHI) Memory Study and 2,304 women from the WHI Study of Cognitive Aging. Reproductive history interviews were completed by the women, and they underwent annual global cognitive assessment from a mean age of 70 years for up to 13 years.

The researchers observed an association for each additional month pregnant with higher scores of global cognition. Higher scores of global cognition, verbal memory, and visual memory were seen in association with each additional month of breastfeeding. For binary formulations of gravidity and breastfeeding, equivalent results were observed.

“If we can figure out, as a next step, why those reproductive patterns lead to better cognitive outcomes in old age, then we can work toward figuring out how to craft therapies — for example, new drugs, repurposed drugs, or social programs — that mimic the naturally-occurring effect we observed,” Fox said in a statement.

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