A Northwestern Medicine preclinical study reports that estrogen loss, aging and female sex correlate with alterations in the hippocampal extracellular matrix of mice.

The work examined young and old male and female mice with or without brain estrogen loss and identified ECM disruption—accounting for nearly 20% of brain volume—as specific to older females, citing the journal Aging Cell (Northwestern University, 2026; https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2026/05/memory-decline-after-menopause-linked-to-loss-of-estrogen-production-in-brain-tissue).

Researchers note that two-thirds of U.S. Alzheimer’s cases occur in women and contrast current anti-amyloid agents such as lecanemab with potential ECM-targeted approaches, without claiming clinical translation.

The study is the first to isolate estrogen effects on the ECM and calls for further examination of matrix changes in postmenopausal women.