title: Dynamic changes in functional cerebral connectivity of spatial cognition during the menstrual cycle.
abstract: Functional cerebral asymmetries (FCAs) in women have been shown to vary with changing levels of sex hormones during the menstrual cycle. Previous studies have suggested that interhemispheric interaction forms a key component in generating FCAs and it has been shown behaviorally and by functional imaging that interhemispheric interaction changes during the menstrual cycle, at least for a left hemisphere dominant task. We used functional MRI and an analysis of functional connectivity to examine whether changes in right hemisphere advantage for a figure comparison task as found in behavioral studies, are based on comparable mechanisms like those identified for the verbal task. Women were examined three times during the menstrual cycle, during the menstrual, follicular and luteal phases. The behavioral data confirmed the right hemisphere advantage for the figure comparison task as well as changes of the right hemisphere advantage during the menstrual cycle. Imaging data showed cycle phase-related changes in lateralized brain activation within the task-dominant hemisphere and changes in connectivity between nonhomotopic areas of both hemispheres, suggesting that changes in functional brain organization in women during the menstrual cycle are not only restricted to hormone-related changes of interhemispheric inhibition between homotopic areas, as has been proposed earlier, but might additionally apply to changes of neuronal processes within the hemispheres which seem to be modulated by heterotopic functional connectivity between hemispheres.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK. Susanne.Weis@durham.ac.uk
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weis
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hausmann
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stoffers
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sturm
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004958:Estradiol; D010100:Oxygen
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2008 Dec 10;28(50):13401-10
references.pmid: 19074013
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2003 May 1;23(9):3790-5
references.pmid: 12736349
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 1995 Dec;33(12):1627-35
references.pmid: 8745120
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 2002;40(7):808-16
references.pmid: 11900731
references.citation: Brain Cogn. 1990 Sep;14(1):26-43
references.pmid: 2223043
references.citation: Neuroimage. 1997 Oct;6(3):145-55
references.pmid: 9344819
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 1998 Dec;36(12):1397-402
references.pmid: 9863693
references.citation: Cereb Cortex. 1995 Sep-Oct;5(5):470-81
references.pmid: 8547793
references.citation: Brain Cogn. 1996 Feb;30(1):81-108
references.pmid: 8811982
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 1995 Jul;33(7):855-65
references.pmid: 7477813
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2001 Jan;13(1):143-52
references.pmid: 11133317
references.citation: Brain Cogn. 2010 Jul;73(2):119-27
references.pmid: 20472334
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2004 Jun;7(6):664-72
references.pmid: 15156146
references.citation: Cognition. 2004 May-Jun;92(1-2):101-44
references.pmid: 15037128
references.citation: Brain Cogn. 2003 Jul;52(2):197-204
references.pmid: 12821102
references.citation: Cereb Cortex. 2005 Aug;15(8):1089-102
references.pmid: 15616134
references.citation: Behav Sci. 1984 Apr;29(2):98-110
references.pmid: 6721821
references.citation: Neuroimage. 1997 Oct;6(3):218-29
references.pmid: 9344826
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 2000;38(10):1362-74
references.pmid: 10869579
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 1995 Jan;33(1):131-8
references.pmid: 7731537
references.citation: Nature. 1995 Feb 16;373(6515):607-9
references.pmid: 7854416
references.citation: J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2005 May;11(3):263-72
references.pmid: 15892902
references.citation: Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2003 Jun;17(1):75-82
references.pmid: 12763194
references.citation: Med Sci Monit. 2000 Nov-Dec;6(6):1186-96
references.pmid: 11232158
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 2005;43(11):1559-67
references.pmid: 16009238
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2001 Mar;13(3):425-32
references.pmid: 11170808
references.citation: Brain. 1996 Feb;119 ( Pt 1):89-100
references.pmid: 8624697
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 1994 Spring;6(2):139-50
references.pmid: 23962366
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 1971 Mar;9(1):97-113
references.pmid: 5146491
references.citation: Neurosci Lett. 2003 Jul 3;344(3):169-72
references.pmid: 12812832
references.citation: Brain Lang. 1983 Nov;20(2):249-62
references.pmid: 6196080
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 1999 Jun;37(7):797-805
references.pmid: 10408647
references.citation: Horm Behav. 2009 Jan;55(1):228-34
references.pmid: 19026652
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 2002;40(13):2397-408
references.pmid: 12417468
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 2004;42(5):563-8
references.pmid: 14725794
references.citation: Brain. 2004 Aug;127(Pt 8):1845-52
references.pmid: 15240433
references.citation: Brain Cogn. 1999 Dec;41(3):263-75
references.pmid: 10585238
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 2004;42(4):434-50
references.pmid: 14728918
references.citation: Brain Cogn. 1991 Sep;17(1):1-22
references.pmid: 1781977
references.citation: Neuroimage. 1998 Jan;7(1):30-40
references.pmid: 9500830
references.citation: Brain. 2000 Jan;123 ( Pt 1):65-73
references.pmid: 10611121
references.citation: Neurosci Res. 2001 Dec;41(4):333-7
references.pmid: 11755219