Dynamic cerebellar network organization across the human menstrual cycle

Abstract

The cerebellum contains the vast majority of neurons in the brain and houses distinct functional networks that constitute at least two homotopic maps of the cerebrum. While the functional organization of the human cerebellum has been characterized, the influence of sex steroid hormones on intrinsic cerebellar network dynamics has yet to be established. Here, we investigated the extent to which endogenous fluctuations in estradiol and progesterone alter functional cerebellar networks at rest in a woman densely sampled over a complete menstrual cycle (30 consecutive days). Edgewise regression analysis revealed negative associations between sex hormones and cerebellar coherence, with progesterone showing more pronounced negative associations relative to estradiol. Graph theory metrics probed sex hormones' influence on topological brain states, revealing relationships between sex hormones and intra-and internetwork integration in Ventral Attention, Dorsal Attention, and Somato-Motor Networks.Together, these results suggest that the intrinsic dynamics of the cerebellum are intimately tied to day-by-day changes in sex hormones.

Shared functional connections within and between cortical networks predict cognitive abilities in adult males and females

“…Previous work in a developmental cohort has shown males exhibit stronger inter-network connectivity, while females exhibit stronger intra-network connectivity (Satterthwaite et al, 2015). Extant literature also suggests hormonal modulation of functional connectivity (Dubol et al, 2020;Fitzgerald, Pritschet, Santander, Grafton, & Jacobs, 2020;Hjelmervik, Hausmann, Osnes, Westerhausen, & Specht, 2014;Pritschet et al, 2020;Weis, Hodgetts, et al, 2019). In terms of functional connectivity features that discriminate sex, two studies identified that connections within and between frontoparietal and default mode networks strongly contribute to the predictions (Weis, Patil, et al, 2019;Zhang et al, 2018).…”