Evidence library · Memory and thinking

Does resistance training affect memory and thinking in menopause? What 10 studies found

Studies of resistance training in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women that measured memory and thinking. 5 reported an improvement and 1 found no difference against the comparison group.

  1. Fifteen middle-aged women did a single session crossover trial of low-load resistance exercise with blood flow restriction, which reported faster reaction times and increased BDNF and VEGF compared with other conditions.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 15 women · 2025Midlife womenCited 2 timesPubMed

  2. In 34 postmenopausal women with overweight or obesity and functional limits, 24 weeks of caloric restriction plus walking and resistance exercise improved one cognitive test score versus education controls, with no change in verbal fluency.

    Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 34 women · 24 weeks · 2025PostmenopausalCited 1 timesPubMed

  3. In a crossover RCT, 29 postmenopausal women aged about 55 completed one isometric resistance session and one high-intensity interval session; neither improved cognitive performance despite increased brain oxygenation.

    No difference foundRandomised trial · 29 women · 2026Early postmenopausalCited 1 timesPubMed

  4. Perimenopausal women did six weeks of high-intensity resistance training with or without creatine; creatine was linked to higher sleep consistency and prefrontal oxygenation gains versus placebo.

    Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 51 women · 6 weeks · 2026PerimenopausalPubMed

  5. A review reported that postmenopausal women taking high dose creatine may gain skeletal muscle size and function, with favorable bone effects when combined with resistance training.

    Direction not statedOther · 2021PostmenopausalCited 62 timesPubMed

  6. This narrative review summarized medical literature finding that regular exercise in midlife and postmenopausal women is linked with reduced obesity, cancer, dementia, mood symptoms, and osteoporosis.

    Reported an improvementOther · 2015Midlife womenCited 56 timesPubMed

  7. In 93 midlife women aged 35 to 63, regular exercise, especially resistance training, was associated with faster reaction time and better working memory under high cognitive load.

    Reported an improvementCross-sectional study · 93 women · 2026Midlife womenPubMed

  8. A review on menopause and cognition stated that strength training and regular aerobic exercise, alongside diet and hormone therapy, may help support cognitive resilience in postmenopausal women.

    Direction not statedOther · 2026PostmenopausalCited 3 timesPubMed

  9. A review described how regular physical activity including aerobic exercise, resistance training and yoga in midlife women supports cognition, sleep, mood and reduces chronic disease risk.

    Reported an improvementOther · 2025Midlife womenCited 1 timesPubMed

  10. 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