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- Rehbein, Elisa, et al.
(författare)
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Estradiol administration modulates neural emotion regulation
- 2021
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Ingår i: Psychoneuroendocrinology. - : Elsevier. - 0306-4530 .- 1873-3360. ; 134
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Variations of sex hormones during the menstrual cycle can lead to changes in emotion processing. The ability to successfully regulate one's emotions is associated with better social abilities and mental health. While women show better performance in fear extinction learning under high estradiol (E2) compared to women under low E2 levels, little is known about the effect of E2 on emotion regulation. We explored whether E2 modulates emotion regulation in a functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm and administered E2 valerate to 32 young naturally cycling women during their early follicular phase in a double-blind, placebo-controlled within-subject design. This standardized experimental control allowed us to explore the specific effect of E2 on emotion regulation while controlling for other hormones varying throughout the menstrual cycle. Behaviorally, no difference between conditions appeared. However, on the neural level, E2 administration was associated with lower activation in the right lingual- and left calcarine gyrus, right orbitofrontal cortex and left hippocampus relative to placebo. With respect to the main effect of down-regulation higher activation of the right superior frontal gyrus and left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex was seen; which is in accordance to previous literature. An interaction between drug condition and emotion regulation appeared for the left inferior frontal gyrus extending into the middle frontal gyrus indicating lower activation during down-regulation in the E2 condition than the placebo condition. On the behavioral level, women reported less negative affect in the E2 condition. The results fit well to a previously described psychoneuroendocrinological model in which E2 plays an important modulatory role on emotional processes and risk factors of mental health in women.
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- Rehbein, Elisa, et al.
(författare)
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Shaping of the Female Human Brain by Sex Hormones : A Review
- 2021
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Ingår i: Neuroendocrinology. - : S. Karger. - 0028-3835 .- 1423-0194. ; 111:3, s. 183-206
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Traditionally sex hormones have been associated with reproductive and developmental processes only. Since the 1950s we know that hormones can have organizational effects on the developing brain and initiate hormonal transition periods such as puberty. However, recent evidence shows that sex hormones additionally structure the brain during important hormonal transition periods across a woman's life including short-term fluctuations during the menstrual cycle. However, a comprehensive review focusing on structural changes during all hormonal transition phases of women is still missing. Therefore, in this review structural changes across hormonal transition periods (i.e., puberty, menstrual cycle, oral contraceptive intake, pregnancy and menopause) were investigated in a structured way and correlations with sex hormones evaluated. Results show an overall reduction in grey matter and region-specific decreases in prefrontal, parietal and middle temporal areas during puberty. Across the menstrual cycle grey matter plasticity in the hippocampus, the amygdala as well as temporal and parietal regions were most consistently reported. Studies reporting on pre- and post-pregnancy measurements revealed volume reductions in midline structures as well as prefrontal and temporal cortices. During perimenopause, the decline in sex hormones was paralleled with a reduction in hippocampal and parietal cortex volume. Brain volume changes were significantly correlated with estradiol, testosterone and progesterone levels in some studies, but directionality remains inconclusive between studies. These results indicate that sex hormones play an important role in shaping women's brain structure during different transition periods and are not restricted to specific developmental periods.
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