Lab study, 2014
Do women with PMS have different eye movement patterns?
Yes. Women with PMS show different eye tracking patterns during the late luteal phase, particularly when tracking slow-moving targets.
What they did
Researchers measured eye movements while 23 women with PMS, 23 healthy women, and 16 women on contraceptives tracked a moving dot at different speeds. They also measured estradiol and progesterone levels and tested during different cycle phases.
What they found
Women with PMS had increased side-to-side eye movement and less smooth tracking when following the slowest targets (0.25 and 0.50 Hz) during their late luteal phase. These differences were related to estradiol levels.
What it means for you
Eye movement differences in PMS may reflect how deeper brain structures that control automatic functions respond to changing estradiol levels. This suggests PMS affects specific brain regions. The study used specialized equipment for precise measurement.
23
women with PMS
23
non-symptomatic controls
16
controls on contraceptives
About the study
- Original title
- Women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms, compared to non-symptomatic controls both on or off monophasic oral contraceptives, show asymmetric horizontal smooth pursuit amplitudes during their late luteal menstrual phase
- Authors
- Michael F. Wesner, E. Currie, M. Richards et al.
- Journal
- Journal of Vision
- Year
- 2014
- Study design
- Lab study
- Participants
- 23
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1167/14.10.498
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