Department of Psychology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China.
Department of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, 200234, China.
Arch Womens Ment Health. 2023 Dec;26(6):803-817. doi: 10.1007/s00737-023-01368-3. Epub 2023 Sep 20.
Laboratory studies reveal that young women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) often exhibit decreased reward processing during the late luteal phase. However, studies based on the self-reports find opposite results (e.g., higher craving for high-sweet-fat food). These differences may lie in the difference between the stimulus used and measuring the different aspects of the reward. The present study was designed to expand previous work by using a classic monetary reward paradigm, simultaneously examining the motivational (i.e., reward anticipation, "wanting") and emotional (i.e., reward outcome, "liking") components of reward processing in women with high premenstrual symptoms (High PMS). College female students in their early twenties with High PMS (n = 20) and low premenstrual symptoms (Low PMS, n = 20) completed a monetary incentive delay task during their late luteal phase when the premenstrual symptoms typically peak. Brain activities in the reward anticipation phase and outcome phase were recorded using the magnetoencephalographic (MEG) imaging technique. No group differences were found in various behavioral measurements. For the MEG results, in the anticipation phase, when High PMS participants were presented with cues that predicted the upcoming monetary gains, they showed higher event-related magnetic fields (ERFs) than when they were presented with neutral non-reward cues. This pattern was reversed in Low PMS participants, as they showed lower reward cue-elicited ERFs than non-reward cue-elicited ones (cluster mass = 2560, cluster size = 891, p = .03, corrected for multiple comparisons), mainly in the right medial orbitofrontal and lateral orbitofrontal cortex (cluster mass = 375, cluster size = 140, p = .03, corrected for multiple comparisons). More importantly, women with High PMS had an overall significantly higher level of ERFs than women with Low PMS (cluster mass = 8039, cluster size = 2937, p = .0009, corrected for multiple comparisons) in the bilateral precentral gyrus, right postcentral gyrus, and left superior temporal gyrus (right: cluster mass = 410, cluster size = 128, p = .03; left: cluster mass = 352, cluster size = 98, p = .05; corrected for multiple comparisons). In the outcome phase, women with High PMS showed significantly lower theta power than the Low PMS ones for the expected non-reward feedback in the bilateral temporal-parietal regions (cluster mass = 47620, cluster size = 18308, p = .01, corrected for multiple comparisons). These findings reveal that the severity of PMS might alter reward anticipation. Specifically, women with High PMS displayed increased brain activities to reward-predicting cues and increased action preparation after the cues appear.
实验室研究表明，患有经前综合征（PMS）的年轻女性在黄体晚期通常表现出奖励加工减少。然而，基于自我报告的研究发现了相反的结果（例如，对高甜高脂肪食物的渴望增加）。这些差异可能在于刺激的使用和测量奖励不同方面之间的差异。本研究旨在通过使用经典的货币奖励范式来扩展以前的工作，同时检查高经前症状（高 PMS）女性的奖励加工的动机（即奖励预期，“想要”）和情绪（即奖励结果，“喜欢”）成分。二十出头的患有高 PMS（高 PMS，n=20）和低经前症状（低 PMS，n=20）的大学女学生在黄体晚期完成了一项货币奖励延迟任务，此时经前症状通常达到高峰。使用脑磁图（MEG）成像技术记录奖励预期阶段和结果阶段的大脑活动。在各种行为测量中未发现组间差异。对于 MEG 结果，在预期阶段，当高 PMS 参与者接收到预测即将到来的货币收益的线索时，与接收到中性非奖励线索时相比，他们表现出更高的事件相关磁场（ERFs）。低 PMS 参与者的情况正好相反，因为他们的奖励线索诱发的 ERFs低于非奖励线索诱发的 ERFs（簇质量= 2560，簇大小= 891，p=.03，经多次比较校正），主要在右侧内侧眶额皮质和外侧眶额皮质（簇质量= 375，簇大小= 140，p=.03，经多次比较校正）。更重要的是，高 PMS 女性的双侧中央前回、右侧中央后回和左侧颞上回的 ERFs 总体水平明显高于低 PMS 女性（双侧中央前回：簇质量= 8039，簇大小= 2937，p=.0009，经多次比较校正）；右侧：簇质量= 410，簇大小= 128，p=.03；左侧：簇质量= 352，簇大小= 98，p=.05，经多次比较校正）。在结果阶段，对于双侧颞顶区域的预期非奖励反馈，高 PMS 女性的θ功率明显低于低 PMS 女性（簇质量= 47620，簇大小= 18308，p=.01，经多次比较校正）。这些发现表明 PMS 的严重程度可能会改变奖励预期。具体来说，高 PMS 女性在出现线索后对奖励预测线索表现出更高的大脑活动和增加的动作准备。
