Menstrual cycle effects on cortisol responsivity and emotional retrieval following a psychosocial stressor

Abstract

Laboratory-induced stress produces elevations in cortisol and deficits in memory, especially when stress is induced immediately before retrieval of emotionally valent stimuli. Sex and sex steroids appear to influence these stress-induced outcomes, though no study has directly compared the effects of laboratory-induced stress on cortisol and emotional retrieval across the menstrual cycle. We examined the effect of psychosocial stress on cortisol responsivity and emotional retrieval in women tested during either the follicular phase (low estradiol and progesterone) or the luteal phase (higher estradiol and progesterone). Forty women (50%White; age 18–40 years) participated in the study; 20 completed the task during the luteal phase and 20 during the follicular phase. Psychosocial stress was induced with the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). On the day before the TSST, participants learned two lists of word pairs to 100% criterion. The next day, participants recalled one list after the control condition and the other after the TSST. Women in the follicular phase, but not the luteal phase, demonstrated a significant cortisol response to the TSST. There was a stress-induced decrease in emotional retrieval following the TSST, but this effect was not modified by menstrual phase. However, regression and correlational analyses showed that individual differences in stress-induced cortisol levels were associated with impaired emotional retrieval in the follicular phase only. The present findings indicate that cortisol responsivity and the impairing effects of cortisol on emotional memory are lower when levels of estradiol and progesterone are high compared to when levels are low.

Cortisol reactivity and emotional memory after psychosocial stress in oral contraceptive users

“…The results are in contrast to our previous findings obtained in 40 naturally cycling women tested either in the follicular ( n = 20; low estradiol/low progesterone; days 2-4) or midluteal phase ( n = 20; high estradiol/high progesterone; days 22-24) where we demonstrated both a salivary cortisol and subjective response to the TSST (Maki et al, 2015). To characterize possible differences between the neuroendocrine and behavioral findings between these two studies, we directly compared the results obtained as the methods were identical across reports.…”

“…Support for our primary hypothesis would be evident in a significant Condition by OC pill phase interaction where the difference in cortisol levels between the TSST and control conditions was greater in the inactive versus active pill phase women. For comparison with the previously published TSST studies in women (Schoofs and Wolf 2009; Maki et al, 2015), a responder analysis was also conducted; participants with an increase in cortisol > 2.5 nmol/L from the challenge time-point in control condition to the challenge time-point in the TSST condition were categorized as “responders” and others were categorized as “non-responders”. Group differences in responder rates were analyzed using Chi-square.…”

“…Interestingly, retrieval of emotional stimuli is particularly diminished following the TSST (Domes et al, 2004; Kuhlmann et al, 2005b). We previously reported that emotional memory retrieval following the TSST was related to the magnitude of increase in cortisol in the follicular phase but not the luteal phase (Maki et al, 2015). Thus, in a high-estrogen, high progesterone hormonal milieu, both stress-induced elevations in cortisol and cortisol-related decrements in emotional memory retrieval were blunted.…”

Impulsivity and Saliva Cortisol in Patients with Suicide Attempt and Controls

“…The females in particular displayed higher cortisol levels than the men in these 2 groups (3 and 4). There is evidence that cortisol concentrations are influenced by the menstrual cycle and that cortisol responsiveness following a psychosocial stressor is significantly higher during the follicular phase [36]. Since we had not considered the menstrual cycle, we can only speculate that that phase might also have influenced the cortisol level in the female patients in acute stress from their disease and previous suicide attempt.…”

Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis response to acute psychosocial stress: Effects of biological sex and circulating sex hormones

“…These differences in hormonal environment may influence HPA axis reactivity in ways that are not yet clear. For example, studies comparing men and women in the luteal versus follicular phases on cortisol reactivity have been mixed: Luteal phase women have responded to the TSST similarly to men in some (Kirschbaum et al 1999; Kudielka et al 2004; Rohleder et al 2001) but not all (Childs et al 2010a; Schoofs et al 2011) studies, and they have responded with greater (Espin et al 2013; Kirschbaum et al 1999), similar (Childs et al 2010a) or reduced (Maki et al 2015) cortisol compared with women in the follicular phase. Accurate determination of menstrual phase could further clarify the conditions under which men and women differ in stress response.…”