--- title: How does PMDD affect how women understand and feel what others are experiencing? description: Women with PMDD show unusual brain patterns related to empathy during the luteal phase: they have stronger emotional responses but have more difficulty unders url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/empathy-related-abnormalities-among-women-with-premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder-2024/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - How does PMDD affect how women understand and feel what others are experiencing? Case-control study, 2024 # How does PMDD affect how women understand and feel what others are experiencing? Women with PMDD show unusual brain patterns related to empathy during the luteal phase: they have stronger emotional responses but have more difficulty understanding other people's perspectives. This may explain the severe social difficulties that women with PMDD report during this phase. Moderate study design 32 women with PMDD and 20 healthy controls. ## What they did Case-control study with 32 women with PMDD and 20 healthy controls. Researchers used brain imaging to measure neural responses while participants watched an empathy-engaging movie during the luteal phase. ## What they found Women with PMDD showed decreased neural synchrony in brain areas involved in understanding others' thoughts but increased synchrony in areas involved in emotional response. Perspective-taking ability was associated with activity in the understanding-others network. During highly emotional moments, the PMDD group showed increased connectivity in this network. ## What it means for you During the luteal phase, women with PMDD may feel emotions more intensely but struggle to understand others' perspectives, which could explain social difficulties. This is a small study conducted in one setting. 32 women with PMDD 20 healthy controls ## About the study Original title Empathy-related abnormalities among women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder: clinical and functional magnetic resonance imaging study Authors Lerner Y, Raz G, Bloch M et al. Journal BJPsych open Year 2024 Study design Case-control study Participants 32 What was tested Empathy-engaging movie used as stimulus. Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2024.723](https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2024.723) Original abstract Background: Empathy refers to the cognitive and emotional reactions of an individual to the experiences of another. Women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) report severe social difficulties during the luteal phase of their menstrual cycle. Aims: This clinical and functional magnetic resonance imaging study aimed to explore affective and cognitive empathy in women with PMDD, during the highly symptomatic luteal phase. Method: Overall, 32 women with PMDD and 20 healthy controls participated in the study. The neuroimaging data were collected using a highly empathy-engaging movie. First, we characterised the synchrony of neural responses within PMDD and healthy groups, using the inter-individual correlation approach. Next, using network cohesion analysis, we compared connectivity within and between brain networks associated with affective and cognitive empathy between groups, and assessed the association of these network patterns with empathic measures. Results: A consistent, although complex, picture of empathy abnormalities was found. Patients with PMDD showed decreased neural synchrony in parietal and frontal key nodes of cognitive empathy processing (theory-of-mind network), but higher neural synchrony in the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex, a part of the salience network, implicated in affective empathy. Positive correlations between cognitive perspective-taking scores and neural synchrony were found within the theory-of-mind network. Interestingly, during highly emotional moments, the PMDD group showed increased functional connectivity within this network. Conclusions: Similar to major depression, individuals with PMDD show enhanced affective empathy and reduced cognitive empathy. These findings echo clinical observations reported when women with PMDD have a dysregulated emotional response to negative stimuli. Reproduced under CC-BY. ## Topics [Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pmdd/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Low mood and depression](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-depression-mood/)[Cognition, concentration and memory](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-cognition/)[Major depressive disorder](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-major-depression/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Cohort study, 2022 What are PMS and PMDD and how should they be diagnosed and treated? Non-randomised trial, 2008 Do mood, memory, and food cravings worsen during the luteal phase in women with PMDD? Survey study, 2013 Are premenstrual symptoms linked to how women experience their body? Cohort study, 2026 What genetic factors are linked to premenstrual symptoms? Systematic review, 2026 Can digital tools help diagnose PMDD? Systematic review, 2025 How do cognition and behavior change across the menstrual cycle in people with PMDD? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗