Menstrual Cycle-Dependent Neural Plasticity in the Adult Human Brain Is Hormone, Task, and Region Specific

Abstract

In rodents, cyclically fluctuating levels of gonadal steroid hormones modulate neural plasticity by altering synaptic transmission and synaptogenesis. Alterations of mood and cognition observed during the menstrual cycle suggest that steroid-related plasticity also occurs in humans. Cycle phase-dependent differences in cognitive performance have almost exclusively been found in tasks probing lateralized neuronal domains, i.e., cognitive domains such as language, which are predominantly executed by one hemisphere. To search for neural correlates of hormonally mediated neural plasticity in humans, we thus conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging study measuring brain activity related to a semantic decision task in the language domain. This was contrasted with a letter-matching task in the perceptual domain, in which we expected no steroid hormone-mediated effect. We investigated 12 young healthy women in a counterbalanced repeated-measure design during low-steroid menstruation and high-steroid midluteal phase. Steroid serum levels correlated with the volume and lateralization of particular brain activations related to the semantic task but not with brain activity related to the perceptual task. More specifically, bilateral superior temporal recruitment correlated positively with progesterone and medial superior frontal recruitment with both progesterone and estradiol serum levels, whereas activations in inferior and middle frontal cortex were unaffected by steroid levels. In contrast to these specific interactions, testosterone levels correlated nonselectively with overall activation levels by neural and/or vascular factor(s). In conclusion, our data demonstrate steroid hormone responsivity in the adult human brain by revealing neural plasticity in the language domain, which appears hormone, task, and region specific.

Progesterone selectively increases amygdala reactivity in women

“…Studies with depressed patients suggest that negative mood is generated by increased activity of brain structures that support the identification of the emotional significance of stimuli and the generation of an affective response (for example, the amygdala, insula, ventral striatum and ventral prefrontal cortex), and decreased activity of brain structures supporting emotion regulation (for example, the dorsal prefrontal cortex and hippocampus). 61 The menstrual cycle has been shown to modulate activity in several of these brain regions, [62][63][64][65] suggesting that progesterone and estradiol may influence mood by modulating this emotion circuitry. The results of the present study show that progesterone increases amygdala activity and indicate that it increases functional coupling with the dACC, without affecting the response amplitude in other brain regions.…”

Asymmetry within and around the human planum temporale is sexually dimorphic and influenced by genes involved in steroid hormone receptor activity

“…Cycle phase-dependent changes in steroid serum levels have been correlated, using functional MRI, with the volume and lateralization of brain activations related to a semantic task, including within the superior temporal cortex (Fernandez et al, 2003). Increased progesterone was linked to more bilateral activation for this task (Fernandez et al, 2003).…”

The Menstrual Cycle and Performance Feedback Alter Gender Differences in Competitive Choices

“…Instead of a double-blind study, we include a within-subject design in this experiment focusing on a comparison between the midluteal peak and the low hormone phase that occurs during menses. This type of scheduling has been included in experiment designs used in neuroscience to study menstrual-cycle dependent neural plasticity (Fernandez et al 2003). These behavioral and neurological studies lay the foundation for our exploration of whether females behave more competitively during a high hormone phase within the menstrual cycle.…”