Waning Brain Power?

Waning Brain Power?

HE SAYS

Women lose significant amounts of brain tissue during menopause, causing some of them to lose their memories or go mildly insane.

SHE SAYS

This is complete and total mythomania. Although menopause can cause mood swings, it does not cause insanity. What's more, at about age 30, both male and female brains start to shrink measurably. As Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., explains in "Brain Longevity" (Warner Books, 1999), degree of brain shrinkage does not correspond exactly to the same degree of cognitive decline. "If your brain shrinks by 10 percent," he writes, "you won't necessarily suffer a 10-percent decline in intelligence. Instead, you might suffer only a 1 percent decline in cognitive ability, because the plasticity of your brain allows you to make new synaptic connections."

Dr. Khalsa goes on to explain that for unknown reasons, MEN LOSE BRAIN TISSUE SIGNIFICANTLY FASTER THAN WOMEN. "By midlife, the brains of males -- which are larger than female brains early in life -- generally shrink to about the same size as female brains..." Go figure!