Cohort study, 2017
Are there differences in spontaneous brain activity between women with PMS and healthy women?
Women with PMS show abnormal patterns of brain activity during the luteal phase, with overactivity in some regions and underactivity in others. These differences correlate with symptom severity, suggesting altered brain function is involved in PMS.
What they did
Brain imaging study comparing 20 women with PMS to 21 healthy controls during the luteal phase. Participants had resting-state brain MRI scans measuring spontaneous activity across the whole brain. All women completed a symptom severity questionnaire.
What they found
Women with PMS had increased activity in the precuneus (an area involved in self-reflection), left hippocampus, and left inferior temporal cortex. They had decreased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (involved in mood and emotion) and cerebellum. PMS symptom severity was negatively correlated with anterior cingulate activity and positively correlated with precuneus activity.
What it means for you
Brain activity patterns differ between women with and without PMS in regions involved in emotion, mood, and self-reflection. This is a small study in young women only, measured at one time point, so the findings need to be confirmed. We cannot tell if these brain differences cause PMS or result from it.
20
PMS patients studied
21
healthy controls studied
3
brain areas with increased activity
About the study
- Original title
- Altered fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation in premenstrual syndrome: A resting state fMRI study
- Authors
- Liao H, Duan G, Liu P et al.
- Journal
- Journal of affective disorders
- Year
- 2017
- Study design
- Cohort study
- Participants
- 20
- What was tested
- None
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.04.045
Topics
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