Study, 2018
Do women with PMDD struggle to control emotions because of different brain activity?
Yes. During the late luteal (premenstrual) phase, women with PMDD had less activity in parts of the brain involved in controlling emotions compared to control women and compared to their own activity during the early cycle phase.
What they did
Researchers identified 18 women with PMDD and 18 control women using at least 2 months of symptom reports. Women had brain scans while controlling emotional responses to images, once during the follicular phase (few symptoms) and once during late luteal (strongest symptoms).
What they found
Women with PMDD reported stronger negative emotions during the late luteal phase compared to the follicular phase, and compared to control women. During late luteal, women with PMDD showed less activity in the right prefrontal cortex (emotion-control region) and other brain areas compared to the follicular phase and to control women.
What it means for you
Reduced activity in emotion-control brain regions during the premenstrual phase may explain why women with PMDD struggle with emotions at that time. However, it is unclear whether reduced brain activity causes emotional difficulties or results from them. The study only looked at one emotion-control task.
18
women with PMDD
18
control women
2
cycle phases tested per woman
About the study
- Original title
- Brain activation during emotion regulation in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder
- Authors
- Petersen N, Ghahremani DG, Rapkin AJ et al.
- Journal
- Psychological medicine
- Year
- 2018
- Study design
- Study
- What was tested
- None - observational study
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1017/s0033291717003270
Topics
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