Evidence library · Memory and thinking

Does aerobic plus resistance affect memory and thinking in menopause? What 6 studies found

Studies of aerobic plus resistance in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women that measured memory and thinking. 5 reported an improvement and 0 found no difference against the comparison group.

  1. Postmenopausal women with metabolic syndrome did a 16-week mixed aerobic and strength program; the exercise group had higher oxygen uptake and some cognitive improvements versus controls.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 12 women · 16 weeks · 2013PostmenopausalCited 10 timesPubMed

  2. In 70 postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes, a 12 week home-based multi-task exercise program improved HDL levels, cognitive function, and physical fitness compared to controls.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 70 women · 12 weeks · 2025PostmenopausalCited 3 timesPubMed

  3. In 85 inactive postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes, a home-based dual-task exercise program improved executive function, physical performance and HDL, and reduced IL-10 and TNF, but did not change diabetes indices overall.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 85 women · 2025PostmenopausalCited 2 timesPubMed

  4. Fifty nine peri, meno and postmenopausal women did a 12 week resistance and endurance circuit program with or without time restricted eating; exercise alone improved some cognitive test scores, with no added benefit from time restricted eating.

    Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 59 women · 12 weeks · 2025Midlife womenCited 2 timesPubMed

  5. A 2 week multicomponent exercise program (aerobic, strength, flexibility, balance) in 30 postmenopausal women improved Stroop test performance and global cognitive function scores versus controls.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 30 women · 2 weeks · 2024PostmenopausalCited 2 timesPubMed

  6. A review reports that aerobic, resistance and multimodal exercise after menopause are associated with improved executive function, memory, attention and overall cognition.

    Reported an improvementOther · 2026PostmenopausalPubMed

How to read this. Each line is one study, summarised in plain language from its PubMed abstract, with the authors' own sentence underneath on the study page. A count of studies is not a verdict: trials differ in size, length and quality, and a result in one group of women may not hold in another. Nothing here is medical advice.

Summaries are generated, then checked by machine against the abstract they came from; any summary that could not be matched word for word was left out. Our clinical lead is reviewing the summaries topic by topic, and this note will change when that is done. Corpus last refreshed 2026-11-03. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix the summary or remove the study.

Other exercise types and memory and thinking