Heart-pumping aerobic exercise can boost key thinking skills among women after menopause, a new study says.
Postmenopausal women who practiced aerobic exercise four days a week for half a year performed better on cognitive tests than those who focused on stretching and toning, researchers reported recently in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Women who did aerobics specifically improved in their executive function — the brain skills that help people plan, juggle tasks, stay focused, and maintain independence, results showed.
“All participants began the study with below-average cardiorespiratory fitness levels and were not regularly exercising — making the results directly relevant to typical midlife and older women, not only those who are already active,” lead researcher Sharon Sanz Simon said in a news release. She is an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Rutgers University New Jersey Medical School.
A Look at the Study
For the new study, researchers recruited 93 healthy women ages 20 to 67 and assigned half to aerobics and half to flexibility and core exercises. Aerobics could be performed on a treadmill, elliptical machine, or stationary bike.
The study lasted six months, during which the women underwent regular cognitive testing. About 8 in 10 completed at least three months, and 7 in 10 the full six months, researchers said.
“Post-menopausal women who completed aerobic exercise showed greater improvements in executive function — measured through standardized assessments of task-switching speed and error management — compared to women in the stretching group and more than pre-menopausal women doing the same aerobic program,” Sanz Simon said.
“We observed measurable cognitive gains at three months into the program, and those benefits continued to strengthen through the six-month trial period,” she added.
Interestingly, other thinking skills like memory or processing speed didn’t show the same gains from aerobic exercise, researchers said.
“Many women report easier time switching between tasks, better ability to plan and organize, improved focus and mental flexibility, and feeling sharper in daily activities,” Sanz Simon said.
Based on these results, researchers outlined a practical aerobic exercise program that could contribute to brain health.
The program calls for three to four sessions per week, involving 10 to 15 minutes of warm-up and gentle stretching followed by 45 minutes of continuous aerobic activity like brisk walking, light jogging, cycling, elliptical training, swimming, water aerobics or dance-based cardio, researchers said.
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What This Could Mean for Black Women After Menopause
The study’s authors found greater improvement in executive function among postmenopausal women who participated in aerobic exercise. Executive function is the set of skills that you use to manage everyday tasks, such as making plans, solving problems, and adapting to new situations. Menopause and perimenopause can cause temporary executive dysfunction or “brain fog,” which can make completing these tasks more difficult.
While the study’s findings are promising, they don’t mean that aerobic exercise prevents Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. The study looks specifically at cognitive performance.
The study included a small number of Black participants, but because it was a smaller study, further research is needed to confirm the findings and how they apply to this specific patient population.
But regardless of the results, Black women shouldn’t have to wait until they notice significant memory problems before they start thinking about brain health.
Why Menopause and Brain Health Deserve More Attention
Cognitive changes can occur during the menopause transition, and symptoms such as sleep disruption, hot flashes, anxiety, and mood changes can affect how someone experiences concentration and memory.
A study involving 702 Black women in South Africa found that more severe hot flashes, anxiety, and mood symptoms were associated with certain measures of cognitive performance, although menopausal stage itself was not associated with those.
While this study involved a different population and study design, it gives insights into how Black women can experience menopause differently, and how the hormonal shift can affect their brain health.
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Could Exercise Become Part of Future Clinical Trials?
This study was a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial, rather than a trial designed specifically to study postmenopausal Black women. Future research could examine whether the cognitive benefits of aerobic exercise are consistent across different racial and ethnic populations.
Researchers could also examine which types, intensities, and durations of exercise provide the greatest benefits for women going through menopause.
Representation in clinical trials matters because research findings are more useful when participants reflect the people who may ultimately use the intervention.
If you’re interested in helping researchers answer these questions, clinical trials may be worth exploring. You can visit BlackDoctor’s Clinical Trials Resource Center to find open trials near you.
More information
The Rutgers Brain Health Institute has more on staying sharp after menopause.
SOURCE: Rutgers University-New Brunswick, news release, Aug. 31, 2026