Perceptual & Motor Skills:  Learning & Memory, 2013, 116, 3, 707-723.

Menstrual cycle modulation of the late positive  potential evoked by emotional faces

WEN-JUAN  ZHANG¹,  REN-LAI ZHOU^1,2, MAO-LIN YE³

¹Beijing  Key Lab of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal  University, Beijing, China

²State  Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal  University, Beijing, China

³Management School,Jinan  University,Guangzhou,China

Abstract: The objective  of the present study was to elucidate the time course and neural basis of facial  expression recognition as modulated by the menstrual cycle in women.  Event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with recognition of different  emotional faces were assessed in 29 healthy women during the premenstrual,  postmenstrual, and periovulation phases of the menstrual cycle. Accuracy in  recognizing different facial expressions was not affected by the menstrual cycle  phase. ERP data indicated that only the late positive potential (LPP) was  affected by the menstrual cycle phase for all facial expressions: during the  periovulation phase, the amplitude of the LPP (750 to 1,000 msec. post-stimulus)  was larger than that during the premenstrual phase. A positive correlation  between the amplitude of the LPP and facial expression recognition performance  was observed only during the periovulation phase. The present study provides  electrophysiological evidence that the LPP evoked by emotional faces is  modulated by the menstrual cycle, which may be correlated with fluctuations of  ovarian hormones.

Key words:  menstrual cycle; facial expression; emotion; event-related  potentials.

FIG.  2. Grand averaged ERPs by menstrual cycle phases at Pz with topographic maps at  750 msec., 850 msec., and 1,000 msec. post-stimulus; ANOVA indicated a  statistically significant main effect of phase on mean amplitude between 750 to  1,000 msec. (p < .05), with the  diminished amplitude during the premenstrual phase than that during the  periovulation phase.

情绪面孔诱发的晚正电位受到月经周期的调控

张文娟¹, 周仁来^1,2,叶茂林³

¹北京师范大学心理学院应用实验心理北京市重点实验室北京  100875

²北京师范大学认知神经科学与学习国家重点实验室穿越架空北京 100875

³暨南大学管理学院广州510632

摘要：女性在月经周期中往往伴随着情绪状态的变化。行为研究发现，与情绪状态相关的面孔表情识别能力也在月经周期的不同阶段发生变化。为了探明这一加工过程的时间进程特点和潜在神经机制，本研究采用事件相关电位技术，要求29名月经周期规律的健康女性在经前、经后和围排卵期完成面孔表情识别任务。结果发现，行为反应的正确率上没有发现明显的月经周期效应，但脑电数据显示，月经周期影响了面孔表情诱发的晚正电位，围排卵期时顶区分布的晚正电位（LPP）波幅（刺激后750-1000ms）显著大于经前期，而且这种效应不受情绪类别的影响。相关分析发现，晚正电位（LPP）波幅和行为反应的正确率仅在围排卵期存在显著的正相关。研究表明，月经周期对晚正电位波幅的这种调控可能与情绪状态、动机驱力和卵巢激素水平等因素的变化有关。

关键词：月经周期；面孔表情；情绪；事件相关电位