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.
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
Topics
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