Non-randomised trial, 2003
Do menstrual cycle hormones change how the brain works during language tasks?
Yes. Progesterone and estradiol levels correlated with the amount and pattern of brain activity during language tasks but not during simpler perception tasks. This shows hormones affect specific brain regions in specific ways.
What they did
Twelve young healthy women had brain scans while performing two different tasks - a language task (semantic decision) and a perception task (letter matching). Scans were done twice: during menstruation (low hormone phase) and mid-luteal phase (high hormone phase). Researchers measured brain activity and correlated it with hormone blood levels.
What they found
Steroid hormone levels correlated with brain activation during the language task but not the perception task. Progesterone correlated with bilateral superior temporal recruitment. Both progesterone and estradiol correlated with medial superior frontal recruitment. Activations in inferior and middle frontal cortex were unaffected by steroid levels. Testosterone correlated with overall activation levels.
What it means for you
Menstrual cycle hormones affect how specific brain regions work, particularly for language tasks. The effect is hormone-specific, task-specific, and region-specific. However, the sample was small (12 women), and findings show brain activity patterns in a lab setting. We do not know if this translates to real-world differences in thinking or to PMS and PMDD symptoms.
12
young healthy women studied
2
testing sessions per woman (low and high hormone phases)
2
cognitive tasks tested (language and perception)
About the study
- Original title
- Menstrual cycle-dependent neural plasticity in the adult human brain is hormone, task, and region specific
- Authors
- Fernández G, Weis S, Stoffel-Wagner B et al.
- Journal
- The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
- Year
- 2003
- Study design
- Non-randomised trial
- Participants
- 12
- What was tested
- None - observational study comparing cycle phases
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.23-09-03790.2003
Topics
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