Reciprocal effects of hormonal fluctuations on human motor and perceptual-spatial skills.

Abstract

Normal adult women showed systematic performance fluctuations across the menstrual cycle on several motor and perceptual tests that typically yield sex differences in performance. The midluteal phase, characterized by high levels of estradiol and progesterone, was associated with improved performance on tests of speeded motor coordination and impaired performance on a perceptual-spatial test, relative to performance during menses. Variations in gonadal steroid levels may contribute substantially to the sex differences reported in human cognitive and motor skills.

Implicit memory varies across the menstrual cycle: estrogen effects in young women

“…Although Hampson's studies also employed a measure of letter fluency, we employed a measure of rhyme fluency that was particularly sensitive to the effects of estrogen. Our findings on the Grooved Pegboard Test replicate and extend past findings with the Purdue Pegboard test (assembly condition only), the Manual Sequence Box, and the Finger Tapping Test [18,19]. Similarly, our findings on the Mental Rotations Test extend previous findings with the Rod and Frame Test [19] and a measure of spatial ability composed of the Rod and Frame Test, Hidden Figures, and the Space Relations Test [17].…”

“…Our findings on the Grooved Pegboard Test replicate and extend past findings with the Purdue Pegboard test (assembly condition only), the Manual Sequence Box, and the Finger Tapping Test [18,19]. Similarly, our findings on the Mental Rotations Test extend previous findings with the Rod and Frame Test [19] and a measure of spatial ability composed of the Rod and Frame Test, Hidden Figures, and the Space Relations Test [17]. Our comparatively large effect size of about a standard deviation is not surprising given that the Mental Rotations Test produces one of the larger and more reliable sex differences [52].…”

“…Following Hampson [18,19], we created a composite fluency score by first computing z-scores for each of the three fluency measures (based on the average across the two sessions) and then averaging the three z-scores to create one composite score. As predicted, overall fluency, reflected in the composite z-score, was better during the midluteal than the follicular phase, F(1, 16)=6.46, PB 0.05.…”

Caveolin proteins and estrogen signaling in the brain

“…Thus far, it has been determined that caveolin proteins functionally link estrogen receptors with mGluRs in striatal neurons [92]; other regions await verification. Through influencing these additional regions, rapid estrogen receptor signaling has been suggested to modulate multiple cellular processes, such as motor control and drug addiction [12,[95][96][97], sexual receptivity [91], the control of the estrous cycle [98], and nociception [14,99]. Furthermore, while we and others hypothesize GPCRs to act as intermediaries between estrogen receptors and G proteins, others have postulated that estrogen receptors directly activate the G proteins [100].…”

“…However, in addition to its actions on intracellular estrogen receptors, estradiol can also affect a variety of cellular processes through stimulation of surface membrane receptors. Not only have these rapid acting effects of estrogens been shown to play a role in sex behavior, but also in brain and spinal cord regions involved with, but not limited to, learning and memory, motor function, nociception and drug addiction [9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. The majority of these reported membrane-initiated actions of estradiol in the nervous system appear dependent on a subpopulation of ERα and/ or ERβ that are localized to the membrane surface [16][17][18], but see [19][20][21].…”