Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Article

The Effects of Menstrual Cycle Phase on Processing of Emotional Images

Published Online:November 22, 2016https://doi.org/10.1027/0269-8803/a000179

Abstract

Abstract. The ovarian hormone levels can affect subjective ratings and modulate late positive potential (LPP) amplitudes evoked by images of varying appeal. The present study examines how different progesterone levels influence the valence, arousal ratings and mean LPP amplitudes evoked by pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant images. Twenty-three healthy females were grouped by menstrual cycle days (estradiol and progesterone levels): 10 were included in the follicular phase group and 13 were included in the luteal phase group. Each female rated the affective images in terms of valence and arousal while event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured. The valence ratings of pleasant images were higher in follicular phase group than in luteal, but the same effect was not seen in the arousal ratings. The arousal ratings to unpleasant images were higher than those to pleasant in luteal, but not in follicular phase group. However, the mean amplitude of the early LPP (450–700 ms) was significantly greater to pleasant than to neutral and unpleasant stimuli, but did not differ between follicular and luteal phase groups. The mean amplitude of the late LPP (700–950 ms) was significantly larger to pleasant and unpleasant compared to neutral images, but did not differ between menstrual cycle phase groups. Correlation analysis showed a significant negative relationship between progesterone levels and arousal ratings of pleasant and unpleasant images in luteal phase group. Arousal scores for unpleasant images negatively correlated with mean LPP amplitudes to unpleasant images at Pz site in the luteal phase group. The present study provides evidence that subjective ratings of affective images of different attractiveness could be influenced by female menstrual cycle phase, but mean amplitudes of LPP (450–950 ms) are not affected. However, results of correlational analysis suggest that valence, arousal ratings and mean LPP amplitudes are susceptible to the influence of hormone progesterone in luteal phase.

References

  • Andreano, J. M. & Cahill, L. (2010). Menstrual cycle modulation of medial temporal activity evoked by negative emotion. Neuroimage, 53, 1286–1293. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.07.011 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Backstrom, T., Haage, D., Lofgren, M., Johansson, I. M., Stromberg, J., Nyberg, S. & Bengtsson, S. K. (2011). Paradoxical effects of GABA-A modulators may explain sex steroid induced negative mood symptoms in some persons. Neuroscience, 191, 46–54. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.03.061 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Conway, C. A., Jones, B. C., DeBruine, L. M., Welling, L. L., Law Smith, M. J., Perrett, D. I. & Al-Dujaili, E. A. (2007). Salience of emotional displays of danger and contagion in faces is enhanced when progesterone levels are raised. Hormones and Behavior, 51, 202–206. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2006.10.002 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cuthbert, B. N., Schupp, H. T., Bradley, M. M., Birbaumer, N. & Lang, P. J. (2000). Brain potentials in affective picture processing: Covariation with autonomic arousal and affective report. Biological Psychology, 52, 95–111. doi: 10.1016/S0301-0511(99)00044-7 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Derntl, B., Hack, R. L., Kryspin-Exner, I. & Habel, U. (2013). Association of menstrual cycle phase with the core components of empathy. Hormones and Behavior, 61, 97–104. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2012.10.009 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Dunning, J. P. & Hajcak, G. (2008). See no evil: Directing visual attention within unpleasant images modulates the electrocortical response. Psychophysiology, 46, 28–33. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2008.00723.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ertman, N., Andreano, J. M. & Cahill, L. (2011). Progesterone at encoding predicts subsequent emotional memory. Learning and Memory, 18, 759–763. doi: 10.1101/lm.023267.111 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Feng, C., Li, W., Tian, T., Gu, R., Zhou, C. & Luo, Y. (2014). Arousal modulates valence effects on both early and late stages of affective picture processing in a passive viewing task. Social Neuroscience, 9, 364–377. doi: 10.1080/17470919.2014.896827 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ferree, N. K., Kamat, R. & Cahill, L. (2011). Influences of menstrual cycle position and sex hormone levels on spontaneous intrusive recollections following emotional stimuli. Consciousness and Cognition, 20, 1154–1162. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2011.02.003 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Foti, D., Hajcak, G. & Dien, J. (2009). Differentiating neural responses to emotional pictures: Evidence from temporal-spatial PCA. Psychophysiology, 46, 521–530. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2009.00796.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Goldstein, J. M., Jerram, M., Abbs, B., Whitfield-Gabrieli, S. & Makris, N. (2010). Sex differences in stress response circuitry activation dependent on female hormonal cycle. The Journal of Neuroscience, 30, 431–438. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3021-09.2010 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Guapo, V. G., Graeff, F. G., Zani, A. C., Labate, C. M., dos Reis, R. M. & Del-Ben, C. M. (2009). Effects of sex hormonal levels and phases of the menstrual cycle in the processing of emotional faces. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 34, 1087–1097. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.02.007 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Haimov-Kochman, R. & Berger, I. (2014). Cognitive functions of regularly cycling women may differ throughout the month, depending on sex hormone status; a possible explanation to conflicting results of studies of ADHD in females. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 8, 191. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00191 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Horan, W. P., Wynn, J. K., Kring, A., Simons, R. & Green, M. F. (2010). Electrophysiological correlates of emotional responding in schizophrenia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1, 18–30. doi: 10.1037/a0017510 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hoyer, J., Burmann, I., Kieseler, M. L., Vollrath, F., Hellrun, L., Arelin, K. & Sacher, J. (2013). Menstrual cycle phase modulates emotional conflict processing in women with and without premenstrual syndrome (PMS) – A Pilot Study. PLoS One, 8, e59780. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059780 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Keil, A., Bradley, M. M., Hauk, O., Rockstroh, B., Elbert, T. & Lang, P. J. (2002). Large-scale neural correlates of affective picture processing. Psychophysiology, 39, 641–649. doi: 10.1111/1469-8986.3950641 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Krug, R., Plihal, W., Fehm, H. L. & Born, J. (2000). Selective influence of the menstrual cycle on perception of stimuli with reproductive significance: An event-related potential study. Psychophysiology, 37, 111–122. doi: 10.1111/1469-8986.3710111 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kujawa, A., Hajcak, G., Torpey, D., Kim, J. & Klein, D. N. (2012). Electrocortical reactivity to emotional faces in young children and associations with maternal and paternal depression. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 53, 207–212. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02461.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lang, P. J., Bradley, M. M. & Cuthbert, B. N. (2008). International affective picture system (IAPS): Affective ratings of pictures and instruction manual (Technical Report A-8). Gainesville, FL: University of Florida. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Liu, Y., Huang, H., McGinnis-Deweese, M., Keil, M. & Ding, M. (2012). Neural substrate of the late positive potential in emotional processing. The Journal of Neuroscience, 32, 14563–14572. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3109-12.2012 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Macnamara, A., Foti, D. & Hajcak, G. (2009). Tell me about it: Neural activity elicited by emotional pictures and preceding descriptions. Emotion, 9, 531–543. doi: 10.1037/a0016251 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Melcangi, R. C., Panzica, G. & Garcia-Segura, L. M. (2011). Neuroactive steroids: Focus on human brain. Neuroscience, 191, 1–5. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.06.024 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Moser, J. S., Hartwing, R., Moran, T. P., Jendrusina, A. A. & Kross, E. (2014). Neural markers of positive reappraisal and their associations with trait reappraisal and worry. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 123, 91–105. doi: 10.1037/a0035817 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Moser, J. S., Most, S. B. & Simons, R. F. (2010). Increasing negative emotions by reappraisal enhances subsequent cognitive control: A combined behavioral and electrophysiological study. Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, 10, 195–207. doi: 10.3758/CABN.10.2.195 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Olofsson, J. K., Nordin, S., Sequeira, H. & Polich, J. (2008). Affective picture processing: An integrative review of ERP findings. Biological Psychology, 77, 247–265. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2007.11.006 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • O’Reilly, M. A., Cunningham, C. J., Lawlor, B. A., Walsh, C. D. & Rowan, M. J. (2004). The effect of the menstrual cycle on electrophysiological and behavioral measures of memory and mood. Psychophysiology, 41, 592–603. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Pearson, R. & Lewis, M. B. (2005). Fear recognition across the menstrual cycle. Hormones and Behavior, 47, 267–271. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Poromaa, I. S. & Gingnell, M. (2014). Menstrual cycle influence on cognitive function and emotion processing from a reproductive perspective. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 8, 1–16. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2014.00380 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Rozenkrants, B. & Polich, J. (2008). Affective ERP processing in a visual oddball task: Arousal, valence, and gender. Clinical Neurophysiology, 119, 2260–2265. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2008.07.213 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sacher, J., Okon-Singer, H. & Villringer, A. (2013). Evidence from neuroimaging for the role of the menstrual cycle in the interplay of emotion and cognition. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 374. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00374 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sakaki, M. & Mather, M. (2012). How reward and emotional stimuli induce different reactions across the menstrual cycle. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6, 1–17. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Schule, C., Eser, D., Baghai, T. C., Nothdurfter, C., Kessler, J. S. & Rupprecht, R. (2011). Neuroactive steroids in affective disorders: Target for novel antidepressant or anxiolytic drugs? Neuroscience, 191, 55–77. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Schupp, H. T., Cuthbert, B. N., Bradley, M. M., Cacioppo, J. T., Ito, T. & Lang, P. J. (2000). Affective picture processing: The late positive potential is modulated by motivational relevance. Psychophysiology, 37, 257–261. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • van Wingen, G. A., Ossewaarde, L., Backstrom, T., Hermans, E. J. & Fernandez, G. (2011). Gonadal hormone regulation of the emotion circuitry in humans. Neuroscience, 191, 38–45. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.04.042 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • van Wingen, G. A., van Broekhoven, F., Verkes, R. J., Petersson, K. M., Backstrom, T., Buitelaar, J. & Fernandez, G. (2007). How progesterone impairs memory for biologically salient stimuli in healthy young women. The Journal of Neuroscience, 27, 11416–11423. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Weinberg, A. & Hajcak, G. (2011). Electrocortical evidence for vigilance-avoidance in generalized anxiety disorder. Psychophysiology, 48, 842–851. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2010.01149.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wu, H., Chen, C., Cheng, D., Yang, S., Huang, R., Caccioppo, S. & Luo, Y. J. (2014). The mediation effect of menstrual phase on negative emotion processing: Evidence from N2. Social Neuroscience, 9, 278–288. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Zhang, W., Zhou, R., Wang, Q., Zhao, Y. & Liu, Y. (2013). Sensitivity of the late positive potentials evoked by emotional pictures to neuroticism during the menstrual cycle. Neuroscience Letters, 553, 7–12. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2013.06.037 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Zhang, W., Zhou, R., Wang, Q., Zhao, Y. & Liu, Y. (2015). Progesterone mediates the late positive potentials evoked by affective pictures in high neuroticism females. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 59, 49–58. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.04.023 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Zhang, W., Zhou, R. & Ye, M. (2013). Menstrual cycle modulation of the late positive potential evoked by emotional faces. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 116, 707–723. doi: 10.2466/22.27.PMS.116.3.707-723 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar