Vulnerability and conditioning in relation to the human menstrual cycle

Abstract

An experiment aimed at testing some implications of a model of symptom acquisition is reported. In particular, the effect conditioning and extinction is examined. Sixteen female phobic patients were tested either immediately pre-menstrually or inter-menstrually. Using white noise as the UCS and a blue light as the CS, conditioned GSR responses were readily established in members of the pre-menstrual group, who also showed resistance to extinction. Subjects tested inter-menstrually were less susceptible to these effects. Those subjects taking the contraceptive pill showed increased sensitivity to the acquisition of conditioned responses.

Modelling Anxiety in Humans for Drug Development

“…Recording of SCRs to stimuli can be used to measure conditioned anxiety in healthy humans. Vila and Beech developed a procedure of aversive conditioning measuring SCR elicited by a blue light before and after its pairing with loud white noise [110]. It was demonstrated by them that the association increased the magnitude of SCR, an indication of classical conditioning.…”

Skin conductance and heart rate in women with premenstrual syndrome.

“…Asso and Beech and Vila and Beech found increased autonomic activity during the premenstrual phase using GSR (3,4). However, the issue was complicated in the Vila and Beech study, since they used phobic subjects (4). Thus, generalization of their results may be questionable.…”

“…For example, Little and Zahn found a significant increase in heart rate, respiration rate, and body temperature during the luteal phase (2). Asso and Beech and Vila and Beech found increased autonomic activity during the premenstrual phase using GSR (3,4). However, the issue was complicated in the Vila and Beech study, since they used phobic subjects (4).…”

Learning-Theoretical Aspects of Primary Dysmenorrhea

“…Beech and co-workers have described that people with an incrased state of negatively labelled physiological arousal have a high receptivity for conditioning. They also found that women in the premenstrual phase condition more easily than intermenstrual women (Asso & Beech, 1975;Vila & Beech, 1977, 1978. Women suffering from severe PD thus condition more easily, that is to say, in the premenstrual phase they are more than normally open to learn a more or less fixed connection between a stimulus (=an observable phenomenon in the surroundings, a thought, a feeling or a bodily sensation) and a response [= an observable physical (in)activity, a new thought or a new feeling or bodily sensation].…”

“…Furthermore, Beech and co-workers have shown that during the premenstrual phase, anxious women have a greater receptivity to conditioning than women who are not anxious (Asso & Beech, 1975;Vila & Beech, 1977, 1978. Beech and Perigault (1974) have described how people in hightened state of negatively labelled arousal have an incrased readiness to react with a particular response in answer to a stimulus which is regarded as harmful.…”