Lab study, 1998
Do women prone to anxiety have different brain chemistry changes during the menstrual cycle?
This rat study suggests anxious individuals have different patterns of mood-related brain chemicals throughout their cycle compared to calm individuals. This is an animal model and cannot prove the same happens in women.
What they did
Rats were divided into two groups based on how nervous they were during handling. One group was highly anxious and one was calm. Brain chemicals were measured at three different points in the rats' menstrual-like cycle. Researchers measured serotonin and dopamine levels and their breakdown products in different brain areas.
What they found
Anxious rats had different brain chemistry patterns compared to calm rats, but these differences appeared at different cycle phases. At one phase of the cycle, anxious rats had higher breakdown products of serotonin and dopamine in certain brain areas and larger adrenal glands. At another phase, they had different serotonin patterns. Anxious rats also had smaller thymus glands, a part of the immune system.
What it means for you
This is an animal study exploring why women who tend toward anxiety might be more prone to PMS. It shows that anxiety and hormonal cycles might interact through brain chemistry changes, but human studies would be needed to know if this applies to women. We cannot directly apply findings from rats to people.
3
Cycle phases where brain chemistry was measured
2
Brain areas examined for chemical differences
About the study
- Original title
- Monoaminergic dysregulation on diestrus-2 and estrus through high emotional reactivity
- Authors
- Sfikakis A, Papadopoulou-Daifotis Z, Sfikaki M et al.
- Journal
- Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior
- Year
- 1998
- Study design
- Lab study
- What was tested
- None (this was a study measuring brain chemistry at different cycle phases)
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/s0091-3057(97)00566-2
Topics
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