Females’ menstrual cycle and incentive salience: Insights on neural reaction towards erotic pictures and effects of gonadal hormones

Event-Related Potentials in Women on the Pill: Neural Correlates of Positive and Erotic Stimulus Processing in Oral Contraceptive Users

“…To assess neural reactivity toward emotional stimuli, an Emotional Picture Stroop Paradigm (EPSP) was conducted. EPSPs were previously successfully used as an implicit measurement tool regarding sexual interest ( Ciardha and Gormley, 2009 ; Munk et al, 2020 ). The combination of EPSPs and ERP collection is, moreover, advantageous in assessing selective attention and has proven as a valid instrument in emotion research ( Thomas et al, 2007 ; Bertsch et al, 2009 ; Franken et al, 2009 ).…”

“…The combination of EPSPs and ERP collection is, moreover, advantageous in assessing selective attention and has proven as a valid instrument in emotion research ( Thomas et al, 2007 ; Bertsch et al, 2009 ; Franken et al, 2009 ). Based on previous research ( Munk et al, 2020 ), three main categories were included: erotic stimuli included couples in underwear and erotic poses (couple erotic) as well as lightly dressed males (male erotic) and females (female erotic). Positive stimuli included single smiling individuals of both sexes; neutral stimuli consisted of couples (couple neutral) and single individuals (person neutral) in neutral poses and with neutral facial expressions, and trees as a non-social neutral stimulus category.…”

“…Regarding the MC, Krug et al (2000) observed higher LPP amplitudes toward erotic pictures around ovulation when these stimuli are highly relevant for fertility and reproduction. Similarly, Munk et al (2018Munk et al ( , 2020 reported that LPP amplitudes toward erotic vs. neutral stimuli were associated with estradiol concentration which typically peaks during ovulation. As OCs suppress ovulation and inhibit conception, they might also reduce motivational salience of erotic stimuli.…”

“…EPSPs were previously successfully used as an implicit measurement tool regarding sexual interest FIGURE 1 | Testing dates for naturally cycling and oral contraceptive using women. (Ciardha and Gormley, 2009;Munk et al, 2020). The combination of EPSPs and ERP collection is, moreover, advantageous in assessing selective attention and has proven as a valid instrument in emotion research (Thomas et al, 2007;Bertsch et al, 2009;Franken et al, 2009).…”

“…OC and NC subjects did also not differ in arousal ratings of erotic stimuli. While this is – to be best of our knowledge – the only study that explicitly compared erotic stimulus processing in NC and OC women, erotic stimulus processing has more often been examined in association with the natural menstrual cycle (MC) using fMRI ( Gizewski et al, 2006 ; Zhu et al, 2010 ) as well as event-related potential (ERP) techniques ( Krug et al, 2000 ; Munk et al, 2018 , 2020 ).…”