Survey study, 2017
Can women in the midluteal phase suppress their response to negative emotions as well as men?
No. Women in the midluteal phase showed greater difficulty suppressing brain responses to negative emotions compared to men, and also reported more distress and effort when trying to suppress their responses.
What they did
Recorded brain activity while 28 early follicular women, 29 midluteal women, and 27 men completed an emotion regulation task that required them to suppress their response to negative images.
What they found
Midluteal women showed greater brain activation during emotional suppression compared to men. Both early follicular and midluteal women reported more distress than men. Midluteal women reported greater effort when suppressing their responses than men. Early brain activity (P1 and N1) was increased in midluteal women compared to men.
What it means for you
Midluteal women may find it harder to control how their brain processes negative information. This is a specialized laboratory study measuring electrical brain activity, so the findings are precise for this specific task but may not reflect everyday emotional regulation.
29
midluteal women
28
early follicular women
27
men
About the study
- Original title
- Women in the midluteal phase of the menstrual cycle have difficulty suppressing the processing of negative emotional stimuli: An event-related potential study
- Authors
- Lusk BR, Carr AR, Ranson VA et al.
- Journal
- Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience
- Year
- 2017
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 29
- What was tested
- Emotion regulation task requiring suppression of responses to negative images
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.3758/s13415-017-0520-1
Topics
Related studies
Cohort study, 2023
Are PMS symptoms linked to genetic factors for psychiatric disorders?
Cohort study, 2026
How do beliefs about control and ways of handling emotions affect distress before your period?
Case-control study, 2024
How does PMDD affect how women understand and feel what others are experiencing?
Case-control study, 2023
Do emotion regulation strategies help women with PMDD manage mood and stress hormones?
Survey study, 2022
Do women with PMDD have different brain function at different cycle phases?
Cohort study, 2022
What are PMS and PMDD and how should they be diagnosed and treated?