--- title: Do women with premenstrual syndrome respond differently to emotional stress? description: Yes. Women with PMS showed different brain wave patterns and lower stress hormone levels. These differences were moderately linked to how severe their PMS was url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/psychological-physiological-and-biochemical-correlations-after-negative-2023/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Do women with premenstrual syndrome respond differently to emotional stress? Case-control study, 2023 # Do women with premenstrual syndrome respond differently to emotional stress? Yes. Women with PMS showed different brain wave patterns and lower stress hormone levels. These differences were moderately linked to how severe their PMS was. Moderate study design 57 college students (33 with PMS, 24 without) ## What they did 57 college students (33 with PMS, 24 without) watched videos designed to trigger anger and sadness. Researchers measured stress hormones in their saliva, heart rate changes, blood pressure, brain electrical activity, and emotional responses. ## What they found Women with PMS had lower stress hormone levels at rest. When watching upsetting videos, they showed different brain wave patterns compared to women without PMS. Changes in certain brain frequencies during sad videos, blood pressure during angry videos, and stress hormone levels were moderately linked to how severe their PMS was. ## What it means for you The brain and stress response system behave differently in women with PMS when facing emotional stress. This was one study in college students and would need to be repeated in other groups to confirm these findings. 33 With PMS 24 Without PMS 57 Total participants ## About the study Original title Psychological, physiological, and biochemical correlations after negative emotional videos in college students with and without premenstrual syndrome Authors Xing J, Wu H, Wang X et al. Journal Frontiers in psychiatry Year 2023 Study design Case-control study Participants 33 Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1228276](https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1228276) Original abstract Introduction: Women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) suffer heavily from emotional problems, the pathogenesis of which is believed to be related to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, autonomic nervous system (ANS) and central nervous system (CNS). We took into account all 3 aspects to observed the psychological, physiological and biochemical correlations under anger and sadness in college students with and without PMS. Methods: 33 students with PMS and 24 healthy students participated in the emotion induction experiment, and were required to fill out self-report scales. Their salivary cortisol (SCort), skin conductivity level (SCL), heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure (BP) and electroencephalogram (EEG) data were collected at the resting stage and 10-15 minutes after each video. Results: Compared to healthy controls, students with PMS showed lower SCort level and higher VLF at rest, and no statistic difference in activities of ANS and HPA axis after emotional videos, but different results in EEG in all conditions. The decreases in SBP during angry video, SCort after angry and neutral videos, and increases in θ band power during sad video were moderately correlated with increases in PMS score. No intergroup differences were found in self-report emotions. Discussion: Students with PMS had lower activity of HPA axis and possibly higher activity of PNS at rest, and different response patterns in CNS in all conditions. Several EEG frequencies, especially θ band, in specific encephalic regions during emotional videos, as well as declined HPA activities in dealing with angry and neutral stressors, in which γ activity in frontal lobe may play a role, showed moderate correlations with more severe PMS. Reproduced under CC-BY. ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Anxiety and tension](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-anxiety/)[Irritability and anger](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-irritability-anger/)[Stress](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-stress/)[Students and academic performance](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-education/) 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 Case-control study, 2009 How common is irritable bowel syndrome in Korean teenage girls and what causes it? Survey study, 2025 How common is PMS in high school girls, and which non-drug methods help reduce anxiety and stress? Randomised trial, 2023 Does a smartphone app for heart rate variability biofeedback reduce premenstrual and depressive symptoms? Survey study, 2020 Do women with IBS and period problems have worse psychological symptoms? Survey study, 2013 Can headaches happen in the middle of a woman's cycle? Randomised trial, 2026 Does calcium and vitamin D supplementation reduce PMS symptoms? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗