Menstrual Cycle and Hormonal Contraceptive-Dependent Changes in Intrinsic Connectivity of Resting-State Brain Networks Correspond to Behavioral Changes Due to Hormonal Status

Pletzer, Belinda; Crone, Julia Sophia; Kronbichler, Martin; Kerschbaum, Hubert

doi:10.1089/brain.2015.0407

Cited by 47 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Inferences drawn from findings obtained in women herein therefore cannot be directly translated to men suffering from IBS. Recent findings further suggest an influence of menstrual cycle phase and intake of oral contraceptives on rsFC in women (Petersen et al, 2014, Pletzer et al, 2016). While excluding time of menses, females independent of hormonal status were included in the current study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Brain functional connectivity is associated with visceral sensitivity in women with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Icenhour

Witt

Elsenbruch

et al. 2017

NeuroImage: Clinical

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Increased perception of visceral stimuli is a key feature of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). While altered resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) has been also reported in IBS, the relationship between visceral hypersensitivity and aberrant rsFC is unknown. We therefore assessed rsFC within the salience, sensorimotor and default mode networks in patients with and without visceral hypersensitivity and in healthy controls (HCs).An exploratory resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study was performed in 41 women with IBS and 20 HCs. Group independent component analysis was used to derive intrinsic brain networks. Rectal thresholds were determined and patients were subdivided into groups with increased (hypersensitive IBS, N = 21) or normal (normosensitive IBS, N = 20) visceral sensitivity. Between-group comparisons of rsFC were carried-out using region-of-interest analyses and peak rsFC values were extracted for correlational analyses.Relative to normosensitive IBS, hypersensitive patients showed increased positive rsFC of pregenual anterior cingulate cortex and thalamus within the salience network and of posterior insula within the sensorimotor network. When compared to both hypersensitive IBS and HCs, normosensitive IBS showed decreased positive rsFC of amygdala and decreased negative rsFC in dorsal anterior insula within the DMN. DMN and sensorimotor network rsFC were associated with rectal perception thresholds, and rsFC in posterior insula was correlated with reported symptom severity in IBS.Our exploratory findings suggest that visceral sensitivity in IBS is related to changes in FC within resting-state networks associated with interoception, salience and sensory processing. These alterations may play an important role in hypervigilance and hyperalgesia in IBS.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Brain functional connectivity is associated with visceral sensitivity in women with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Icenhour

Witt

Elsenbruch

et al. 2017

NeuroImage: Clinical

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“…Some studies have shown that functional connectivity within the DMN is related to sleepiness (Ward et al, 2013) and is diminished after sleep deprivation (De Havas, Parimal, Soon, & Chee, 2012). Other studies found an influence of female hormones on functional connectivity during rest (e.g., Pletzer, Crone, Kronbichler, & Kerschbaum, 2016). Second, between-subject fluctuations in connectivity might be explained by differences in regional or global noise.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variability and reliability of effective connectivity within the core default mode network: A longitudinal spectral DCM study

Almgren

Steen

Kühn

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Dynamic causal modelling (DCM) for resting state fMRI -namely spectral DCM -is a recently developed and widely adopted method for inferring effective connectivity in intrinsic brain networks. Most research applying spectral DCM has focused on group-averaged connectivity within large-scale intrinsic brain networks; however, the consistency of subject-and sessionspecific estimates of effective connectivity has not been evaluated. Establishing reliability (within subjects) is crucial for its clinical use; e.g., as a neurophysiological phenotype of disease progression. Effective connectivity during rest is likely to vary due to changes in cognitive, behavioural, and physical states. Determining the sources of fluctuations in effective connectivity may yield greater understanding of brain processes and inform clinical applications about potential confounds. In the present study, we investigated the consistency of effective connectivity within and between subjects, as well as potential sources of variability (e.g., hemispheric asymmetry). We further investigated how standard procedures for data processing and signal extraction affect this consistency. DCM analyses were applied to four longitudinal resting state fMRI datasets. Our sample consisted of 20 subjects with 653 resting state fMRI sessions in total. These data allowed to quantify the robustness of connectivity estimates for each subject, and to draw conclusions beyond specific data features. We found that subjects contributing to all datasets showed systematic and reliable patterns of hemispheric asymmetry. When asymmetry was taken into account, subjects showed very similar connectivity patterns. We also found that various processing procedures (e.g. global signal regression and ROI size) had little effect on inference and reliability of connectivity for the majority of subjects. Bayesian model reduction increased reliability (within-subjects) and stability (between-subjects) of connectivity patterns.

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“…Rather, they report changes in how networks are related to particular nodes, or regions, as a function of menstrual cycle phase. For instance, there is some suggestion that regions within the DMN appear more connected when hormones are low (early follicular phase), whereas regions within control networks appear more connected when progesterone or both progesterone and estradiol are high (midluteal phase) . But this is not always the case, as greater control‐related connectivity in the early follicular phase (i.e., low hormones) and complex patterns of correlations between estradiol and progesterone in several different networks, including the DMN, have been reported .…”

Section: Menstrual Cyclementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies report no differences between women using OCs and naturally cycling women, whereas others report conflicting effects. For instance, compared with naturally cycling women, there is indication that women using OCs have reduced connectivity in DMN regions, but that women using androgenic OCs have greater connectivity in different DMN regions . There is similar confusion between studies when comparing active versus placebo phases in the frontoparietal network.…”

Section: Hormonal Contraceptivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ovarian hormones: a long overlooked but critical contributor to cognitive brain structures and function

Beltz

Moser

2019

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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Cognitive neuroscience research has traditionally overlooked half of the population. Arguing that variability in ovarian hormones confounds empirical findings, girls and women have been excluded from research for decades. But times are changing. This review summarizes historical trends that have led to a knowledge gap in the role of ovarian hormones in neuroscience, synthesizes recent findings on ovarian hormone contributions to cognitive brain structures and function, and highlights areas ripe for future work. This is accomplished by reviewing research that has leveraged natural experiments in humans across the life span that focus on puberty, the menstrual cycle, hormonal contraceptive use, menopause, and menopausal hormone therapy. Although findings must be considered in light of study designs (e.g., sample characteristics and group comparisons versus randomized crossover trials), across natural experiments there is consistent evidence for associations of estradiol with cortical thickness, especially in frontal regions, and hippocampal volumes, as well as with frontal regions during cognitive processing. There are also emerging investigations of resting state connectivity and progesterone along with exciting opportunities for future work, particularly concerning biopsychosocial moderators of and individual differences in effects in novel natural experiments. Thus, delineating complex ovarian hormone contributions to cognitive brain structures and function will advance neuroscience.

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Menstrual Cycle and Hormonal Contraceptive-Dependent Changes in Intrinsic Connectivity of Resting-State Brain Networks Correspond to Behavioral Changes Due to Hormonal Status

Cited by 47 publications

References 54 publications

Brain functional connectivity is associated with visceral sensitivity in women with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Brain functional connectivity is associated with visceral sensitivity in women with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Variability and reliability of effective connectivity within the core default mode network: A longitudinal spectral DCM study

Ovarian hormones: a long overlooked but critical contributor to cognitive brain structures and function

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