Study, 2023
How do stress and menstrual cycle phase affect memory and brain activity?
Stress reduced memory performance in all cycle phases. Memory was somewhat better protected in the late follicular phase than in the early follicular and luteal phases.
What they did
Unmarried young women were tested during three different cycle phases (early follicular, late follicular, and luteal). During each test, they experienced stress (a 3-minute stressful movie) while taking a memory test. Researchers measured hormone levels, skin stress response, and brain activity using EEG.
What they found
Estradiol (a female hormone) levels were measured as decreased in all three phases. Skin stress response decreased after the movie in all phases but increased more in the late follicular and luteal phases compared to the early follicular phase. Memory performance dropped after the stressful movie in all three phases. However, memory was relatively better in the late follicular phase compared to the early follicular and luteal phases. Brain activity in the frontal and prefrontal regions increased after stress during the memory test.
What it means for you
Stress harms memory during all cycle phases, but your memory may be somewhat protected during the late follicular phase. This study was small, used an artificial stressor (a brief movie), and included only unmarried women. The abstract does not state how many women participated.
3 min
Stress stimulus duration
3
Menstrual cycle phases tested
About the study
- Original title
- Effect of stress on spatial working memory and EEG signal dynamics in the follicular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle in young single girls
- Authors
- Torbaghan ME, Moghimi A, Moghimi A et al.
- Journal
- Brain and behavior
- Year
- 2023
- Study design
- Study
- What was tested
- Electrical stimulation and memory testing with stress induction across menstrual cycle phases
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1002/brb3.3166
Original abstract
Aim: Women undergo behavioral changes during the menstrual cycle. This study aimed to investigate the effect of estradiol (Es) on stress and effect of stress on spatial working memory (WM) and also to investigate electroencephalogram (EEG) signal's dynamics in the early and late follicular (EF and LF) and luteal (LU) phases of unmarried girls' menstrual cycle. Methods: Stress was induced by presentation of a short (3 min) movie clip. Simultaneous with a memory test and stress induction, EEG, serum Es levels, and galvanic skin response (GSR) were assessed. Results: Serum Es concentrations were decreased in LF, LU, and EF phases. The mean GSR score decreased after stress induction in all three phases, but it increased in the LF and LU phases versus the EF phase. Spatial WM diminished after stress induction in all three phases, but it increased in the LF phase versus the two phases before and after stress induction. Average power spectrum density in all frequency bands increased after stress induction in the frontal and prefrontal channels in the spatial WM test. Conclusion: The results showed that stress led to spatial WM dysfunction; however, Es improved spatial WM performance in the LF phase versus the other two phases.
Reproduced under CC-BY.
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