---
title: Do women with PMDD see emotions in faces differently during the luteal phase?
description: Women with PMDD showed more negative bias during the luteal phase, seeing neutral faces as sadder than they were. The statistical effect was modest and might
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/facial-emotion-discrimination-across-the-menstrual-cycle-in-women-with-2007/
---

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- Do women with PMDD see emotions in faces differently during the luteal phase?

Case-control study, 2007

# Do women with PMDD see emotions in faces differently during the luteal phase?

Women with PMDD showed more negative bias during the luteal phase, seeing neutral faces as sadder than they were. The statistical effect was modest and might not hold up with stricter testing.

 Moderate study design

28 women with PMDD and 27 asymptomatic controls

## What they did

Women with PMDD (n=28) and asymptomatic controls (n=27) completed a facial emotion recognition task during the follicular phase and the luteal phase. Participants identified emotions in photographs of faces.

## What they found

During the luteal phase, PMDD women showed significantly increased negative judgments and higher negative bias compared to their follicular phase performance. They also had trouble distinguishing neutral from emotional faces. Controls showed no menstrual cycle effects.

## What it means for you

The negative bias in reading faces during the luteal phase may contribute to worsening mood in PMDD. The main limitation is that the statistical significance was modest and would not survive correction for multiple comparisons.

28

women with PMDD

27

control women

p<0.05

significance level

## About the study

Original title Facial emotion discrimination across the menstrual cycle in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and controls Authors Rubinow DR, Smith MJ, Schenkel LA et al. Journal Journal of affective disorders Year 2007 Study design Case-control study Participants 28 What was tested None - observational study Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2007.01.031](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2007.01.031)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[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/)[Cognition, concentration and memory](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-cognition/)[Legal and forensic](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-legal-crime/)

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