2023-10-31 14:06:06
For the first time, scientists have demonstrated that the menstrual cycle causes changes in the structure of the brain itself, which could explain certain symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. These results, from a preprint, could lay the foundation for future studies aimed at better understanding certain mental health problems linked to menstruation.
We talked to you about it in 2019 in our article “Desire, choice of partner, emotions: what the pill does to your brain”, hormonal changes induced by the natural menstrual cycle or by synthetic contraceptive hormones have an impact on health mentality of women, their cognitive abilities and, more broadly, their behaviors. In the first part of the menstrual cycle (before and during ovulation), estrogens act as a fertilizer on neurons and increase cognitive abilities. Synthetic contraceptive hormones like the pill increase depressive disorders.
Most previous research has focused on how these hormones affect brain communication during cognitive tasks, but this new study shows that these hormonal variations act directly on the structures of the brain and the remodeling “. While women experience approximately 450 menstrual cycles during their lifetime, this information opens the way for future research which could lead to crucial discoveries about the way menstrual cycles have a concrete impact on women’s lives and their behaviors.
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Variations in the volume of gray and white matter and cerebrospinal fluid
Neuroscientists Elizabeth Rizor and Viktoriya Babenko from the University of California at Santa Barbara and their teams followed 30 women during their cycles. Using MRI scans taken during the three phases of the cycle (menstruation, ovulation and the luteal period) and hormonal blood tests, the researchers observed in detail the structural changes that occur in the brain as the profiles hormonal changes.
Their results (which have yet to be peer-reviewed but have already been pre-published) show that three structures of the brain have their volume which fluctuates depending on the hormonal variations of the cycle: gray matter (which processes information), white matter (which carries information) as well as cerebrospinal fluid (which absorbs shocks that could damage the brain).
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A “faster” brain just before ovulation?
One of the times when the strongest variations are observed is when immediately precedes ovulation, when the hormones 17β-estradiol and luteinizing hormone (LH) increase. The participants’ brains showed an increase in their white matter, which carries information sent to neurons. This suggests that the information processed by the brain at this point in the cycle could be processed more quickly.
The progesteronewhich increases after ovulation, was associated with a decrease in cerebrospinal fluid volumethe liquid in which our brain and spinal cord bathe and whose role is to “mechanically” protect the brain from possible external trauma and to help it eliminate certain waste.
L’hormone folliculostimulante (FSH), which increases before ovulation to stimulate egg growth and maturation, was associated with thicker gray matter. If gray matter is considered the seat of intelligence, be careful with shortcuts, because we currently have no formal proof that its volume and the cognitive qualities of an individual are linked.
While we don’t yet really know what these structural changes in the brain mean for the women who experience them every month, future studies should shed light on how the menstrual cycle influences women, their behaviors and their cognitive abilities. Ultimately, this will possibly allow us to better understand why some women suffer from serious depressive disorders, fatigue or nervousness before and during menstruation or why they suffer more from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
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