Effects of menstrual cycle phase on associations between the error-related negativity and checking symptoms in women

Abstract

The menstrual cycle is known to impact mood and cognitive function and has been shown to lead to variability in symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorders and anxiety. Using a within-subject design, the present study examined ovarian hormones, the error-related negativity (ERN), and selfreported checking symptoms in both the mid-follicular and mid-luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. ERN amplitude and checking symptom severity did not vary between the follicular and luteal phases. However, a more negative ERN was associated with greater checking symptoms in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, even when controlling for ERN amplitude in the follicular phase. Moreover, changes in checking symptoms between phases were associated with phaserelated changes in the ERN. Finally, a significant mediation model was found such that the ERN measured in the luteal phase mediated the association between progesterone in the luteal phase and checking symptoms in the luteal phase. Collectively, the present findings suggest that levels of progesterone in the luteal phase could impact checking symptoms by modulating response monitoring and sensitivity to errors, and that fluctuation in the ERN between menstrual cycle phases may play an important role in the expression of anxious and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

Psychiatric Symptoms Across the Menstrual Cycle in Adult Women: A Comprehensive Review

“…Approximately half of the women reported premenstrual worsening of OCD symptoms, as demonstrated by significantly higher scores on a self-report measure of OCD symptoms. In a laboratory-based study designed to measure OCD-related checking symptoms, no menstrual cycle phase differences (comparing mid-luteal and mid-follicular) were identified 139 …”

“…In a laboratory-based study designed to measure OCD-related checking symptoms, no menstrual cycle phase differences (comparing mid-luteal and mid-follicular) were identified. 139 …”

“…In a laboratory-based study designed to measure OCD-related checking symptoms, no menstrual cycle phase differences (comparing mid-luteal and mid-follicular) were identified. 139 RESULTS FROM HIGH-QUALITY STUDIES Only one study meeting criteria for high quality found no differences in checking behaviors.…”

Sex Differences in Anxiety: An Investigation of the Moderating Role of Sex in Performance Monitoring and Attentional Bias to Threat in High Trait Anxious Individuals

“…Our findings may contribute to future meta-analyses and/or synthesis of the literature in this area. Moreover, sex differences may appear throughout the lifespan due to changes in hormone levels during pregnancy, menopause, as well as an individual's menstrual cycle (Gordon and Girdler, 2014 ), which may influence ERN amplitudes (Mulligan et al, 2019 ). The use of hormonal birth control can also affect the extent to which sex plays a moderating role (Petersen et al, 2014 ).…”

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Metabolic Disorders

“…Error-related negative and “examination symptoms” in patients with OCD may be influenced by changes in estrogen and progesterone. These hormonal changes influenced the severity of the “check symptoms” involved in neural mechanisms of response monitoring and error sensitivity (Mulligan et al, 2019). In addition, the improvement of OC symptoms may be related to the enhancement of 5-HT signaling by estrogen and progesterone.…”