Hysterectomy Uniquely Impacts Spatial Memory in a Rat Model: A Role for the Nonpregnant Uterus in Cognitive Processes.

Approximately one-third of women experience hysterectomy, or the surgical removal of the uterus, by 60 years of age, with most surgeries occurring prior to the onset of natural menopause. The ovaries are retained in about half of these surgeries, whereas for the other half hysterectomy occurs concurrently with oophorectomy. The dogma is that the nonpregnant uterus is dormant.