Survey study, 2013
Does the menstrual cycle change how the brain responds to emotional faces?
Yes, brain electrical activity in response to emotional faces is stronger during ovulation than during the premenstrual phase, suggesting hormone changes affect emotional processing.
What they did
Tested 29 healthy women during three phases of their menstrual cycle (premenstrual, post-menstrual, and ovulation). They showed women emotional faces and measured brain electrical activity (event-related potentials) and accuracy in recognizing different emotions.
What they found
The late positive potential (a measure of brain activity) was significantly larger during the ovulation phase compared to the premenstrual phase (750 to 1,000 milliseconds after seeing the faces) for all types of emotional expressions. Accuracy in recognizing emotions did not differ by menstrual phase.
What it means for you
Menstrual cycle hormones affect how the brain processes emotional information, but this is a small study in only healthy women with no clear link to daily life symptoms or PMS.
29
women studied
750-1000
milliseconds post-stimulus
periovulation
phase with stronger response
About the study
- Original title
- Menstrual cycle modulation of the late positive potential evoked by emotional faces
- Authors
- Zhang W, Zhou R, Ye M
- Journal
- Perceptual and motor skills
- Year
- 2013
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 29
- What was tested
- None
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.2466/22.27.pms.116.3.707-723
Topics
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