Case-control study, 2012
Do women with PMDD have different brain structures?
Yes. Women with PMDD showed more gray matter in one brain region and less in another compared to healthy women, though these differences did not relate to symptom severity.
What they did
Brain MRI scans of 15 women with PMDD and 15 healthy controls were analyzed for differences in gray matter volume.
What they found
Women with PMDD had significantly increased gray matter in the hippocampal cortex and significantly decreased gray matter in the parahippocampal cortex compared to controls. These brain differences were not significantly associated with PMDD symptom severity.
What it means for you
Brain structure differences in regions related to emotion and memory processing may be part of PMDD. However, this is a very small study, so results need confirmation in larger groups. The findings suggest PMDD involves emotional processing changes but do not yet explain how these cause symptoms.
15
women with PMDD
15
healthy controls
About the study
- Original title
- Gray matter abnormalities in patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder: an optimized voxel-based morphometry
- Authors
- Jeong HG, Ham BJ, Yeo HB et al.
- Journal
- Journal of affective disorders
- Year
- 2012
- Study design
- Case-control study
- Participants
- 15
- What was tested
- Brain MRI scanning and gray matter volume analysis
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2012.02.010
Topics
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