Thalamocortical dysconnectivity in premenstrual syndrome

Nostalgia in the brain

Nostalgia, a complex emotion that arises from one's yearnful memories, involves multiple psychological processes. Cognitive neuroscience research has shed light on the neural mechanism of nostalgia as well as its adaptive functions. Nostalgia involves brain regions implicated in self-reflection, autobiographical memory, emotion regulation and reward processing. Also, nostalgia buffers various psychological and physical threats by modulating activities in brain regions implicated in emotion regulatory processing (i.e., both top-down emotion regulation and bottom-up sensory and attention processing) and reward processing. These findings deepen understanding of nostalgia and have implications for its application in clinical situations.

Factors Associated with the Prevalence and Severity of Menstrual-Related Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This study aimed to identify factors associated with the prevalence and severity of menstrual-related symptoms. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42021208432). We conducted literature searches of PubMed and Ichushi-Web and used the Jonna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklist to assess the quality. Of the 77 studies included in the meta-analysis, significant odds ratios (ORs) were obtained for eight factors associated with primary dysmenorrhea (PD): age ≥ 20 years (OR: 1.18; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04−1.34), body mass index (BMI) < 18.5 kg/m2 (OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.01−2.26), longer menstrual periods (OR: 0.16; 95% CI: 0.04−0.28), irregular menstrual cycle (OR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.13−1.45), family history of PD (OR: 3.80; 95% CI: 2.18−6.61), stress (OR: 1.88; 95% CI: 1.30−2.72), sleeping hours < 7 h (OR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.04−1.35), and bedtime after 23:01 (OR: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.16−1.45). Two factors were associated with severity of PD (moderate vs. severe): BMI < 18.5 kg/m2 (OR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.01−3.54) and smoking (OR: 1.94; 95% CI: 1.08−3.47). PD severity (mild vs. severe) and prevalence of premenstrual syndrome were associated with BMI < 18.5 kg/m2 (OR: 1.91; 95% CI: 1.04−3.50) and smoking (OR: 1.86; 95% CI: 1.31−2.66), respectively. The identified risk factors could be utilized to construct an appropriate strategy to improve menstrual symptoms and support women’s health.

Premenstrual syndrome is associated with an altered spontaneous electroencephalographic delta/beta power ratio across the menstrual cycle

Premenstrual syndrome is associated with altered spontaneous brain activity in the late luteal phase, but the fluctuation patterns of brain activity throughout the menstrual cycle have not been revealed. Furthermore, it is also unknown whether the altered spontaneous brain activity during the whole menstrual cycle is further associated with their habitual use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. Based on the two reasons, electroencephalogram data and cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire from 32 women with high premenstrual symptoms (HPMS) and 33 women with low premenstrual symptoms (LPMS) were measured in the late luteal and follicular phases. Delta power, theta power, beta power, and the slow/fast wave ratios (SW/FW, including theta/beta power ratio [TBR] and delta/beta power ratio [DBR]) were calculated using both fixed frequency bands and individually adjusted frequency bands (based on the individual alpha peak frequency). The results showed that for the frontal and central DBR, as assessed both with fixed and individualized frequency bands, there was no difference between the two phases of the LPMS group, whereas there was a difference between the two phases of the HPMS group with a higher DBR in the late luteal phase than in the follicular phase. Further correlation results revealed that for women with HPMS in the late luteal phase, the frontal and central DBR values, as assessed both with fixed and individualized frequency bands, were positively correlated with self-blame and rumination. Consequently, HPMS was characterized by a fluctuation across the menstrual cycle in the DBR, which was further associated with maladaptive emotion regulation.

Brain Activation During Processing of Depression Emotion in College Students With Premenstrual Syndrome in China: Preliminary Findings

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to investigate the neural substrates of processing depression emotion in premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and healthy subjects of college students using blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI).

METHODS

During BOLD-fMRI scanning, 13 PMS patients and 15 healthy controls (HC) performed a picture visual stimulation task during luteal and follicular phases, in which participants and HC were asked to see pictures containing depression and non-depression emotions. Simultaneously, self-rating depression scales (SDS) were employed to evaluate the emotional status of participants.

RESULTS

Compared to HC, right inferior occipital gyrus, right middle occipital gyrus, right lingual gyrus, right fusiform gyrus, right inferior temporal gyrus, cerebelum_crus1_R, cerebelum_6_R, culmen, the cerebellum anterior lobe, tuber, and cerebellar tonsil of PMS patients showed enhanced activation. In contrast, sub-lobar, sub-gyral, extra-nuclear, right orbit part of superior frontal gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, right orbit part of inferior frontal gyrus, limbic lobe, right insula, bilateral anterior and adjacent cingulate gyrus, bilateral caudate, caudate head, bilateral putamen, and left globus pallidus exhibited decreased activation.

CONCLUSION

The findings indicate that abnormal functional regulation of brain regions such as occipital lobe and cerebellum leads to abnormal changes in emotional regulation, cognitive ability, and attention distribution in PMS patients, implying significant central pathogenesis.

Thalamocortical Dysconnectivity In Lifelong Premature Ejaculation: A Functional MRI Study

OBJECTIVES

To detect seed-based functional connectivity (FC) between various cortical sub-regions and the thalamus in lifelong premature ejaculation (LPE) patients and explore whether specific thalamocortical networks are significantly altered in PE patients compared to healthy controls (HCs) METHODS: Fifty non-medicated LPE patients and 40 age-matched HCs underwent a resting-state functional MRI. FC was adopted to identify specific thalamocortical connectivity between the thalamus and 6 cortical regions of interest (i.e., the motor cortex/supplementary motor, the prefrontal cortex, the temporal lobe, the posterior parietal cortex, the somatosensory cortex and the occipital lobe). In LPE patients, regression analysis was subsequently conducted to assess relationships of thalamocortical connectivity with the Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (PEDT) score and the Intravaginal Ejaculatory Latency Time (IELT).

RESULTS

LPE patients had significantly decreased FC between the motor cortex and bilateral ventral thalamus, between the prefrontal cortex and left dorsomedial thalamus, as well as between the temporal cortex and bilateral ventromedial thalamus. In LPE patients, PEDT score was significantly positively associated with the thalamus-posterior parietal cortex FC, and negatively associated with the thalamus-temporal cortex FC, while IELT was positively associated with the thalamus-temporal cortex and thalamus-motor cortex FC.

CONCLUSION

These results enrich the imaging evidence for the understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms and/or consequences of LPE.

Altered resting-state functional networks in patients with premenstrual syndrome: a graph-theoretical based study

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a menstrual cycle-related disorder. Previous studies have indicated alterations of brain functional connectivity in PMS patients. However, little is known about the overall organization of brain network in PMS patients. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data deriving from 20 PMS patients and 21 healthy controls (HCs). Pearson correlation between mean time-series was used to estimate connectivity matrix between each paired regions of interest, and the connectivity matrix for each participant was then binarized. Graph theory analysis was applied to assess each participant's global and local topological properties of brain functional network. Correlation analysis was performed to evaluate relationships between the daily rating of severity of problems (DRSP) and abnormal network properties. PMS patients had lower small-worldness values than HCs. PMS-related alterations of nodal properties were mainly found in the posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus and angular gyrus. The PMS-related abnormal connectivity components were mainly associated with the thalamus, putamen and middle cingulate cortex. In the PMS group, the DRSP score were negatively correlated with the area under the curves of nodal local efficiency in the posterior cingulate cortex. Our study suggests that the graph-theory method may be one potential tool to detect disruptions of brain connections and may provide important evidence for understanding the PMS from the disrupted network organization perspective.

Effects Of Exogenous Melatonin On Sleep And Circadian Rhythms In Women With Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder

We previously found normal polysomnographic (PSG) sleep efficiency, increased slow wave sleep (SWS) and a blunted melatonin secretion in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) compared to controls. Here, we investigated the effects of exogenous melatonin in five patients previously studied. They took 2 mg of slow-release melatonin 1 hour before bedtime during their luteal phase (LP) for three menstrual cycles. At baseline, patients spent every third night throughout one menstrual cycle sleeping in the laboratory. Measures included morning urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMt6), PSG sleep, nocturnal core body temperature (CBT), visual analogue scale for mood (VAS-Mood), Prospective Record of the Impact and Severity of Menstrual Symptoms (PRISM), and ovarian hormones. Participants also underwent two 24-hour intensive physiological monitoring (during the follicular phase and LP) in time-isolation/constant conditions to determine 24-hour plasma melatonin and CBT rhythms. The same measures were repeated during their third menstrual cycle of melatonin administration. In the intervention condition compared to baseline, we found increased urinary aMt6 (p<0.001), reduced objective SOL (p=0.01), reduced SWS (p<0.001) and increased Stage 2 sleep (p<0.001). Increased urinary aMt6 was associated with reduced SWS (r=-0.51, p<0.001). Circadian parameters derived from 24-hour plasma melatonin and CBT did not differ between conditions, except for an increased melatonin mesor in the intervention condition (p=0.01). Ovarian hormones were comparable between the conditions (p≥0.28). Symptoms improved in the intervention condition, as measured by the VAS-Mood (p=0.02) and the PRISM (p<0.001). These findings support a role for disturbed melatonergic system in PMDD that can be partially corrected by exogenous melatonin.