Lab study, 1998
How does progesterone dropping affect the brain's anxiety-control system?
When progesterone suddenly drops, the brain's anxiety-calming system becomes much less effective. This might explain anxiety symptoms that some women experience before their period.
What they did
Researchers studied female rats to see what happens when progesterone is suddenly withdrawn. They looked at how the brain converts progesterone into a calming chemical and what happens to the brain's anxiety-controlling system when this drops.
What they found
When progesterone was withdrawn, the rats became more likely to have seizures and the brain's anxiety-calming signal became six times less effective. The brain's anxiety-control system changed in a way that made it less able to calm anxiety. Blocking a specific gene that controls this system prevented the problem.
What it means for you
PMS anxiety might be caused by how the brain's anxiety-control system changes when progesterone drops sharply. This is rat research, so we don't yet know if it works the same way in humans.
6-fold
Decrease in brain anxiety-calming signal strength
About the study
- Original title
- GABA(A) receptor alpha4 subunit suppression prevents withdrawal properties of an endogenous steroid
- Authors
- Smith SS, Gong QH, Hsu FC et al.
- Journal
- Nature
- Year
- 1998
- Study design
- Lab study
- What was tested
- Sudden withdrawal of progesterone
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1038/31948
Topics
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