Cohort study, 2018
Is brain activity different in women with PMS, particularly in the hippocampus?
Women with PMS show increased left hippocampus activity and stronger connections between this region and emotion-processing areas. The connection strength correlates with symptom severity, suggesting abnormal brain activity may play a role in PMS.
What they did
Brain imaging study comparing 20 women with PMS to 21 healthy controls during the luteal phase. Participants underwent MRI scans measuring spontaneous activity in the hippocampus (a brain region involved in memory and emotion) and its connections to other brain regions. All women completed a symptom severity questionnaire.
What they found
Women with PMS had increased activity in the left hippocampus compared to controls (P=0.042). The left hippocampus was more strongly connected to areas involved in emotion processing, decision-making, and motor control. PMS women had weaker connections to the orbitofrontal cortex, an area involved in emotional regulation. The strength of the hippocampus-emotion processing connection was positively correlated with symptom severity (r=0.64, P=0.003).
What it means for you
Changes in how the hippocampus connects to other brain regions may contribute to PMS symptoms. This is a small study in a single centre, so the findings need to be repeated in larger groups before we can be confident. The study measured one time point during the menstrual cycle, not changes across the cycle.
20
PMS patients scanned
21
healthy controls scanned
0.003
P-value for correlation
About the study
- Original title
- Hippocampal fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation and functional connectivity changes in premenstrual syndrome
- Authors
- Duan G, Liu H, Pang Y et al.
- Journal
- Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI
- Year
- 2018
- Study design
- Cohort study
- What was tested
- None
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1002/jmri.25775