The constant ebb and flow of hormones that guide the menstrual cycle don’t just affect reproductive anatomy. They also reshape the brain, and research gives us insight into how this happens.
Led by neuroscientists Elizabeth Rizor and Viktoriya Babenko of the University of California Santa Barbara, a team of researchers tracked 30 women over their menstrual cycles, documenting in detail the structural changes that take place in the brain as hormonal profiles fluctuate.
The results, published in a peer-reviewed study in 2023, suggest that structural changes in the brain during menstruation may not be limited to those regions associated with the menstrual cycle.
“These results are the first to report simultaneous brain-wide changes in human white matter microstructure and cortical…