Cohort study, 2013
Are brain abnormalities in PMDD related to how severe the condition is?
Yes, women with PMDD show abnormal activation in a thinking and emotion brain region, and the degree of abnormality correlated with how severe their symptoms and disability were.
What they did
Multimodal neuroimaging study using PET and fMRI. Fifteen PMDD patients and 15 comparison subjects were scanned during a working memory task (n-back) under three hormone conditions: ovarian suppression, with estradiol, and with progesterone. Researchers measured symptoms and functional disability.
What they found
In both PET and fMRI, PMDD patients showed greater activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex compared to comparison subjects. In PMDD patients, the degree of abnormal prefrontal activation correlated with functional disability, age at symptom onset, duration of PMDD, and differences in symptoms before and after menstruation.
What it means for you
PMDD involves abnormal activation in a brain region related to thinking and emotional control, and this abnormality is linked to disease severity. The main limitations are the very small sample (only 15 patients) and the complex hormone manipulation protocol that may not reflect real-world PMDD.
15
PMDD patients in PET study
15
comparison subjects in PET study
3
hormone conditions tested
About the study
- Original title
- Abnormalities of dorsolateral prefrontal function in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder: a multimodal neuroimaging study
- Authors
- Baller EB, Wei SM, Kohn PD et al.
- Journal
- The American journal of psychiatry
- Year
- 2013
- Study design
- Cohort study
- Participants
- 15
- What was tested
- Hormone manipulation with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist, plus estradiol, plus progesterone
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2012.12030385
Topics
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