--- title: How does the menstrual cycle affect processing emotions and thinking in women with and without PMS? description: All women took longer to resolve conflicts between emotions and thinking during the luteal phase. Only women with PMS showed increased stress levels during th url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/menstrual-cycle-phase-modulates-emotional-conflict-processing-in-women-with-and-2013/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - How does the menstrual cycle affect processing emotions and thinking in women with and without PMS? Case-control study, 2013 # How does the menstrual cycle affect processing emotions and thinking in women with and without PMS? All women took longer to resolve conflicts between emotions and thinking during the luteal phase. Only women with PMS showed increased stress levels during the luteal phase, suggesting an additional stress response. Early or limited evidence 15 women with PMS and 15 women without PMS ## What they did Researchers measured performance on an emotional conflict task and stress levels in 15 women with PMS and 15 women without PMS throughout their menstrual cycle. The emotional conflict task measured how quickly women could resolve situations where emotions and logical thinking conflicted. ## What they found All women showed a significant increase in reaction time for resolving emotional conflict from the follicular to the luteal phase (p=0.001). Only women with PMS showed an increase in physiological and subjective stress measures during the luteal phase. ## What it means for you The menstrual cycle affects how all women process emotions and thinking together, but women with PMS experience additional stress during the premenstrual period. This extra stress may explain why women with PMS struggle more. The study was small and described as a pilot study. 15 women with PMS 15 women without PMS p=0.001 significance for increased reaction time in luteal phase ## About the study Original title Menstrual cycle phase modulates emotional conflict processing in women with and without premenstrual syndrome (PMS)--a pilot study Authors Hoyer J, Burmann I, Kieseler ML et al. Journal PloS one Year 2013 Study design Case-control study Participants 15 What was tested Menstrual cycle phase Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0059780](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0059780) Original abstract Background: Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is characterized by a cluster of psychological and somatic symptoms during the late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle that disappear after the onset of menses. Behavioral differences in emotional and cognitive processing have been reported in women with PMS, and it is of particular interest whether PMS affects the parallel execution of emotional and cognitive processing. Related to this is the question of how the performance of women with PMS relates to stress levels compared to women without PMS. Cortisol has been shown to affect emotional processing in general and it has also been shown that women with severe PMS have a particular cortisol profile. Methods: We measured performance in an emotional conflict task and stress levels in women with PMS (n = 15) and women without PMS (n = 15) throughout their menstrual cycle. Results: We found a significant increase (p = 0.001) in the mean reaction time for resolving emotional conflict from the follicular to the luteal cycle phase in all subjects. Only women with PMS demonstrated an increase in physiological and subjective stress measures during the luteal menstrual cycle phase. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the menstrual cycle modulates the integration of emotional and cognitive processing in all women. Preliminary data are supportive of the secondary hypothesis that stress levels are mediated by the menstrual cycle phase only in women with PMS. The presented evidence for menstrual cycle-specific differences in integrating emotional and cognitive information highlights the importance of controlling for menstrual cycle phase in studies that aim to elucidate the interplay of emotion and cognition. Reproduced under CC-BY. ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Cognition, concentration and memory](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-cognition/)[Stress](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-stress/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Case-control study, 2023 Do emotion regulation strategies help women with PMDD manage mood and stress hormones? Cohort study, 2022 What are PMS and PMDD and how should they be diagnosed and treated? Lab study, 2020 Does anxiety sensitivity change during different parts of the menstrual cycle? Study, 1976 Do mood and body changes happen at the same time in the menstrual cycle? Cohort study, 2026 Does brain structure differ between women with PMDD and healthy controls? Non-randomised trial, 2024 Does cognitive-behavioral or mindfulness stress management help reduce PMS in high school girls? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗