Women’s Brains Grow A Little In Sync With Menstrual Cycle

A new study about women's health suggests that the female brain may change a little in sync with the menstrual cycle. Women go through hormonal fluctuations every month that influence the switching that occurs between the fertile and infertile days.

A study conducted on a small group of 30 women showed that the estrogen levels change during each menstrual cycle and affect the hippocampus. Hippocampus is the area of brain that is central to mood, memories and emotions.

The researchers measured the estrogen levels in these 30 women's blood and made them undergo MRI scans that were used to measure the volume of the various regions of each woman's brain.

With the increase in estrogen levels, a slight increase in the volume of hippocampus was observed. The measurements taken by the researchers showed that both white and grey matter in the brain increased as the estrogen levels rose, thus causing the hippocampus to expand in volume.

Claudia Barth, the lead author of the research and a Ph.D. student at Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany said that it is quite unclear how these changes in the volume of hippocampus every month might affect the everyday lives of women but they are suspected to influence a woman's behavior and emotions.

"In mice, it has already been proven that it is not just this brain structure but also different behaviors which underlie a type of monthly cycle," Barth said in a statement shared by Eurekalert.

Researchers now want to test the above mentioned theory on a larger group of women and study the effects of the growth in hippocampus on the behavior of women. The overall aim of this research is to understand the association between the observed changes in brain and a condition called premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) that affects every 1 in 12 women during the days leading up to the woman's menstrual cycle and includes symptoms such as anxiety and severe mood swings, reports Live Science.

"To get a better understanding of this disorder, we first have to find out which monthly rhythm the brain of a healthy woman follows," co-author Julia Sacher, a research leader at the Max Planck Institute. "Only then can we reveal the differences in persons affected by PMDD."