Is there any connection between memory and menopause?

Both men and women experience changes in their memory and other cognitive abilities like attention and concentration as they age. Is there an additional effect of ‘reproductive aging,’ or the menopausal transition on cognitive performance among women? We used to think the answer was no, but there are now two large prospective studies that follow the same cohort of women from the time they’re premenopausal to postmenopausal. Those women experience what appears to be a transient decrease in objective memory performance as they transition through menopause.