A largely overlooked space between cells in women’s brains — called the extracellular matrix (ECM), which is highly abundant in the hippocampus — may hold the key to understanding memory loss tied to estrogen decline after menopause, reports a new preclinical Northwestern Medicine study. Scientists have traditionally focused on studying brain cells such as neurons and glial cells and have paid much less attention to the space between the cells. This is the first study to examine estrogen loss in the ECM. The findings provide new insight into how estrogen loss may affect the aging female brain and could help explain why women are at higher risk for AD. These findings suggest a possible new treatment approach focused on restoring the brain’s supportive environment — the ECM — to help protect memory and fight this devastating disease.

A new perspective article (Stockwell et al.) argues that despite major advances in ferroptosis research, several central mechanistic questions remain unresolved and may determine the future direction of the field.