---
title: Does PMS change how much attention emotional faces grab? | Niyora
description: No clear difference was found. Angry faces grabbed attention more than neutral faces in all women, but PMS did not change this pattern.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/influence-of-premenstrual-syndrome-on-attentional-capture-by-expressions-in-the-2025/
---

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- Does PMS change how much attention emotional faces grab?

Study, 2025

# Does PMS change how much attention emotional faces grab?

No clear difference was found. Angry faces grabbed attention more than neutral faces in all women, but PMS did not change this pattern.

 Moderate study design

47 women across two menstrual cycles

## What they did

47 women performed an attention task during both phases of their menstrual cycle, with emotional faces appearing as distractors. Researchers measured their brain activity and tracked PMS symptoms over two cycles.

## What they found

Angry faces consistently captured more attention than neutral faces, as shown by specific brain wave patterns. However, there was no clear difference based on whether women had PMS.

## What it means for you

PMS doesn't appear to change how much emotional faces pull our attention. The study grouped all women with PMS together, but it might help to look at individual mood differences like depression or anxiety instead.

47

women in the study

## About the study

Original title Influence of premenstrual syndrome on attentional capture by expressions in the luteal phase Authors Álvarez F, Veiga-Zarza E, Fernández-Folgueiras U et al. Journal Hormones and behavior Year 2025 Study design Study Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2025.105846](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2025.105846)

## Topics

[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Cognition, concentration and memory](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-cognition/)

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