Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Carolina Center for Neurostimulation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Psychophysiology. 2020 Oct;57(10):e13632. doi: 10.1111/psyp.13632. Epub 2020 Jul 13.
The neuroactive metabolites of the steroid hormones progesterone (P4) and testosterone (T) are GABAergic modulators that influence cognition, yet, the specific effect of P4 and T on brain network activity remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated if a fundamental oscillatory network activity pattern, often related to cognitive control, frontal midline theta (FMT) oscillations, are modulated by steroids hormones, P4 and T. We measured the concentration of P4 and T using salivary enzyme immunoassay and FMT oscillations using high-density electroencephalography (EEG) during eyes-open resting-state in 55 healthy women and men. Electrical brain activity was analyzed using Fourier analysis, aperiodic signal fitting, and beamformer source localization. Steroid hormone concentrations and biological sex were used as predictors for scalp and source-estimated amplitude of theta oscillations. Elevated concentrations of P4 predicted increased amplitude of FMT oscillations across both sexes, and no relationship was found with T. The positive correlation with P4 was specific to the frontal midline electrodes and survived correction for the background aperiodic signal of the brain. Using source localization, FMT oscillations were localized to the frontal-parietal network (FPN). Additionally, theta amplitude within the FPN, but not the default mode network, positively correlated with P4 concentration. Our results suggest that P4 concentration modulates brain activity via upregulation of theta oscillations in the FPN.
甾体激素孕酮（P4）和睾酮（T）的神经活性代谢物是 GABA 能调节剂，影响认知，但 P4 和 T 对大脑网络活动的具体影响仍知之甚少。在这里，我们研究了类固醇激素 P4 和 T 是否调节了一种基本的振荡网络活动模式，这种模式通常与认知控制有关，即额中线θ（FMT）振荡。我们使用唾液酶免疫测定法测量了 P4 和 T 的浓度，并在 55 名健康女性和男性的睁眼静息状态下使用高密度脑电图（EEG）测量了 FMT 振荡。使用傅里叶分析、非周期性信号拟合和波束形成器源定位来分析脑电活动。类固醇激素浓度和生物性别被用作预测头皮和源估计θ振荡幅度的指标。P4 浓度升高预测两性 FMT 振荡幅度增加，而与 T 无关。与 P4 的正相关是额中线电极特有的，并且在纠正大脑的背景非周期性信号后仍然存在。使用源定位，FMT 振荡被定位到额顶网络（FPN）。此外，FPN 内的θ幅度，而不是默认模式网络，与 P4 浓度呈正相关。我们的结果表明，P4 浓度通过上调 FPN 中的θ振荡来调节大脑活动。
