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Related Experiment Videos

Menstrual cycle effects on cortical excitability.

M J Smith1, J C Keel, B D Greenberg

  • 1National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.

Neurology
|December 22, 1999
PubMed
Summary

Cortical excitability in women changes during the menstrual cycle, with greater inhibition observed in the luteal phase. This finding highlights a potential confound for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Human Physiology

Background:

  • Ovarian hormones influence brain neurotransmission, with progesterone metabolites enhancing GABAergic inhibition and estradiol potentially increasing glutamatergic excitation.
  • Previous research faced challenges in detecting these hormonal effects on cortical excitability in women using conventional methods.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate menstrual cycle-related changes in cortical excitability in healthy women.
  • To utilize paired transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to detect subtle neurophysiological alterations.

Main Methods:

  • Paired TMS was employed to assess cortical excitability in 13 healthy women during both the follicular (low progesterone) and luteal (high progesterone) phases.
  • The study measured the inhibitory effect of a conditioning pulse on the cortex by comparing the response to a test pulse alone versus preceded by a conditioning pulse.

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Main Results:

  • A significantly greater degree of cortical inhibition was observed during the luteal phase compared to the follicular phase (p = 0.01).
  • The magnitude of this observed inhibition was comparable to effects previously documented for benzodiazepine drugs.

Conclusions:

  • This research presents the first direct evidence of menstrual cycle-dependent variations in cortical network excitability.
  • The findings indicate that the menstrual cycle can be a confounding factor in transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies involving female participants.