Higher hormone levels linked to changes in brain activity on MRI
Higher hormone levels are associated with less distinct patterns of activity in brain regions that regulate emotions, according to new MRI research from the University of Barcelona.
These findings could help explain the mood fluctuations many women experience during their menstrual cycle, researchers explained in Psychological Medicine. They also provide new insight into the biological mechanisms underlying hormone-related changes in mood.
“In our study we found that higher progesterone levels were linked to brain activity patterns that made it harder to tell different emotion control situations apart, which also corresponded with lower mood in participants,” lead author Macià Buades-Rotger, PhD, with the University of Barcelona, noted. “This suggests that if the brain can tell different emotional situations apart more clearly, it may be better at regulating emotion in daily life.”
For their findings, researchers analyzed MRI data from 116 naturally cycling women who were not using hormonal contraception. Participants completed questionnaires assessing their mood and menstrual cycle stage and provided saliva samples to measure progesterone and estradiol levels. During MRI, participants completed a task designed to test emotional control. They viewed happy or angry faces and were instructed either to respond naturally—approaching a happy face or avoiding an angry one—or to override that instinctive response.
Using machine learning to analyze patterns of brain activity, investigators were able to distinguish between the “easy” and “difficult” emotional control conditions. However, the distinction became less pronounced as progesterone levels increased. The effect was particularly evident in the lateral frontal pole, a region involved in cognitive and emotional processing. Participants whose MRI patterns showed a clearer distinction between the emotional-control conditions also tended to report better mood during the preceding week. The brain mechanism accounted for about 7% of the variation in mood scores.
The team suggested that their findings could eventually help researchers better understand conditions in which hormonal fluctuations are associated with changes in mood, including premenstrual dysphoric disorder and other hormone-related mood disorders.
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In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.