Estradiol levels during the menstrual cycle differentially affect latencies to right and left hemispheres during...

Many behavioral studies have found high-estrogen phases of the menstrual cycle to be associated with enhanced left-hemisphere processing and low-estrogen phases to be associated with better right-hemisphere processing. This study examined the changing of hemispheric asymmetry during the menstrual cycle by analyzing event-related potential (ERP) data from midline and both hemispheres of 23 women during their performance of a dichotic tasks shown to elicit a left-hemisphere response (semantic categorization) and a right-hemisphere response (complex tones). Each woman was tested during her high-estrogen follicular phase and low-estrogen menstrual phase. Salivary assays of estradiol and progesterone were used to confirm cycle phase. Analyses of the ERP data revealed that latency for each hemisphere was differentially affected by phase and target side, such that latencies to the left hemisphere and from the right ear were shorter during the high-estrogen phase, and latencies to the right hemisphere and from the left ear were shorter during the low-estrogen phase. These findings supply electrophysiological correlates of the cyclically based interhemispheric differences evinced by behavioral studies.