Zhang Wenjuan, Zhou Renlai, Wang Qingguo, Zhao Yan, Liu Yanfeng
Department of Psychology, School of Humanities, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
Beijing Key Lab of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, School of Social and Behavior Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2015 Sep;59:49-58. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.04.023. Epub 2015 May 8.
Neuroticism, which is a personality trait characterized by the tendency to experience negative affect, is associated with premenstrual negative emotion changes. The present ERP study intended to investigate how neuroticism and the menstrual cycle influence the evaluation of emotion as a function of the tested levels of ovarian hormones.
Forty-two healthy females with regular menstrual cycles were grouped by neuroticism (N): 16 were included in the high-N group, and 26 were included in the low-N group. Each female performed an emotion evaluation task in the early follicular phase, late follicular phase and luteal phase while the ERPs, hormone samples and Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance (PAD) mood ratings were measured.
The PAD and behavioral data did not differ between the two groups during the three phases. However, the mean amplitude of the Late Positive Potentials (LPP, 300-1000ms post-stimulus) of ERPs was significantly larger in the high-N group than that in the low-N group. Moreover, the interaction between the group and phase was significant 2000-4000ms post-stimulus: for the high-N group, the LPP of the luteal phase was the largest, followed by the late follicular phase and the early follicular phase; whereas the LPP of the luteal phase was the largest, followed by the early follicular phase and the late follicular phase for the low-N group. More importantly, the LPP (300-4000ms post-stimulus) evoked by positive pictures from the central or parietal area was significantly negatively correlated with the progesterone level in the early follicular phase.
The present study provides electrophysiological evidence showing that both the menstrual cycle and neuroticism modulate the LPP evoked by emotional pictures. Furthermore, the negative correlation between progesterone and the amplitude of the LPP suggests that the effect of the menstrual cycle on the LPP may be primarily a function of progesterone. These findings suggest that the LPP evoked by emotional pictures for high and low neuroticism females change throughout the menstrual cycle and that this change is in part mediated by progesterone.
神经质是一种以倾向于体验负面情绪为特征的人格特质，与经前负面情绪变化有关。本项事件相关电位（ERP）研究旨在探究神经质和月经周期如何根据所测卵巢激素水平影响情绪评估。
42名月经周期规律的健康女性按神经质（N）分组：高N组16人，低N组26人。每位女性在卵泡早期、卵泡晚期和黄体期执行情绪评估任务，同时测量ERP、激素样本及愉悦-唤醒-支配（PAD）情绪评分。
在三个阶段中，两组之间的PAD和行为数据无差异。然而，ERP的晚期正电位（LPP，刺激后300 - 1000毫秒）平均波幅在高N组显著大于低N组。此外，刺激后2000 - 4000毫秒时，组与阶段之间的交互作用显著：对于高N组，黄体期的LPP最大，其次是卵泡晚期和卵泡早期；而对于低N组，黄体期的LPP最大，其次是卵泡早期和卵泡晚期。更重要的是，中央或顶叶区域的正性图片诱发的LPP（刺激后300 - 4000毫秒）与卵泡早期的孕酮水平显著负相关。
本研究提供了电生理证据，表明月经周期和神经质均调节情绪图片诱发的LPP。此外，孕酮与LPP波幅之间的负相关表明，月经周期对LPP的影响可能主要是孕酮的作用。这些发现表明，高低神经质女性情绪图片诱发的LPP在整个月经周期中发生变化，且这种变化部分由孕酮介导。
