One of the most distressing aspects of aging is noticing your own cognitive decline. This is especially true for women. Whether you momentarily forget a grandchild or a colleague’s name, or can’t remember where you put the car key — or worse, the car — these “senior moments” are distinct signs of an aging brain. Cognitive decline can also include an impairment in judgment or executive functioning: the ability to make the right choices in life. When judgment is affected, people begin to make bad decisions that can affect their marriage, their relationships with their children, their careers, or even their health.

Even though the symptoms of cognitive decline are associated with old age, we now know that the changes in the brain that affect memory, attention, processing speed, and decision making begin much earlier. Many women will recognize some attention deficit or memory loss as early as 30 years old. It’s all linked to declining hormone levels which begin during the earliest stages of menopause and perimenopause.

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