--- title: Do women with PMDD struggle to control emotions because of different brain activity? description: Yes. During the late luteal (premenstrual) phase, women with PMDD had less activity in parts of the brain involved in controlling emotions compared to control url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/brain-activation-during-emotion-regulation-in-women-with-premenstrual-dysphoric-2018/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Do women with PMDD struggle to control emotions because of different brain activity? Study, 2018 # Do women with PMDD struggle to control emotions because of different brain activity? Yes. During the late luteal (premenstrual) phase, women with PMDD had less activity in parts of the brain involved in controlling emotions compared to control women and compared to their own activity during the early cycle phase. Moderate study design 18 women with PMDD and 18 women without PMDD ## What they did Researchers identified 18 women with PMDD and 18 control women using at least 2 months of symptom reports. Women had brain scans while controlling emotional responses to images, once during the follicular phase (few symptoms) and once during late luteal (strongest symptoms). ## What they found Women with PMDD reported stronger negative emotions during the late luteal phase compared to the follicular phase, and compared to control women. During late luteal, women with PMDD showed less activity in the right prefrontal cortex (emotion-control region) and other brain areas compared to the follicular phase and to control women. ## What it means for you Reduced activity in emotion-control brain regions during the premenstrual phase may explain why women with PMDD struggle with emotions at that time. However, it is unclear whether reduced brain activity causes emotional difficulties or results from them. The study only looked at one emotion-control task. 18 women with PMDD 18 control women 2 cycle phases tested per woman ## About the study Original title Brain activation during emotion regulation in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder Authors Petersen N, Ghahremani DG, Rapkin AJ et al. Journal Psychological medicine Year 2018 Study design Study What was tested None - observational study Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1017/s0033291717003270](https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291717003270) ## Topics [Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pmdd/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Low mood and depression](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-depression-mood/)[Mood swings and emotion regulation](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-emotional-regulation/) 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 Study, 2026 How do women with PMDD process emotions differently in their brains? Case-control study, 2026 Do women with PMS handle emotions differently at different times of the cycle? Systematic review, 2025 Do people with PMDD and severe PMS have difficulties with emotion regulation? Cohort study, 2024 Does the menstrual cycle affect daily changes in suicidal thoughts? Cohort study, 2023 Does the menstrual cycle affect how often women have suicidal thoughts? Case-control study, 2023 Do emotion regulation strategies help women with PMDD manage mood and stress hormones? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗