By Rick Nauert PhD

Emerging research suggests the hormones that trigger the menstrual cycle influence the way a woman’s memory works. Practically, investigators discovered cognitive and spatial abilities were influenced by the time of the month.

Researchers from Concordia University designed the study to show that the female brain works differently. Drug development and treatment protocols are typically designed using male models.

In the current study, researchers investigated whether hormones associated with the menstrual cycle could change brain patterns and capabilities.

“Women have sometimes reported to doctors that their memory works differently depending on which phase of the menstrual cycle they are in — even during and following pregnancy, or following menopause.

This has led scientists to wonder whether estrogen and progesterone could affect memory and problem solving,” said psychology professor Dr. Wayne Brake, who co-authored the study.

“Our research shows that, rather than impairing memory in general, estrogen and progesterone may instead cause the brain to favor one memory system or strategy over another.”

For the study, researchers tested 45 women who had regular menstrual cycles. Participants were asked to complete a “hormonal profile” questionnaire that gathered detailed information on their periods, past pregnancies, contraceptive, and synthetic hormone intake history and general life habits.

The participants were then given a verbal memory task, such as remembering a list of words, as well as a virtual navigation task, such as finding their way through a maze in a video game, that could be solved in several ways.

At the end of the experiment, participants were debriefed on how they solved the tasks from beginning to end.

Results were clear: women who were ovulating performed better on the verbal memory task. On the other hand, women tested in their pre-menstrual phase were better at solving spatial navigation tasks.

Researchers said that proves that women tend to use different strategies to solve tasks — such as navigating a maze or remembering a list of words — depending on where they are in their menstrual cycle.

Essentially, the study shows that the hormonal changes women experience throughout their cycles have a broader impact than previously believed, and have significant effects on how women approach and solve problems.

“This is important scientifically. We and others have previously shown that the levels of estrogen and progesterone in rodents influence different brain regions, affecting various memory systems involved in task-solving,” says Brake.

“For example, when estrogen levels are high, female rats will use one type of memory system or strategy versus another to solve a maze. This is the first study to show that this is also true for women, who solve tasks in different ways based on their hormones.”

The findings clearly show that additional research is needed to deepen the understanding of the female brain.

For recent Ph.D. graduate Dema Hussain, the study’s lead author, these results point to an ongoing bias in scientific research.

“Traditionally, researchers and scientists have relied on using male participants — and male rats — in studies to develop drugs and treatments for the general population. But we now know that women respond differently than men,” she says.

“I hope that this study emphasizes that more research is needed to deepen our understanding of the female brain, and that efforts must be made to tailor future research to improve our understanding of the effects of female sex hormones on cognition and memory.”

By Rick Nauert PhD

Researchers from the University of Warwick Sleep and Pain Lab show in a new study that conditions like back pain, fibromyalgia, and arthritis are linked with negative thoughts about insomnia and pain — and this double whammy can be effectively managed by cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).

In the research, Esther Afolalu and colleagues developed a pioneering scale to measure beliefs about sleep and pain in long-term pain patients, alongside their quality of sleep. This method of quantification is the first of its type to combine both pain and sleep and investigate the vicious cycle between sleep and pain problems.

“Current psychological treatments for chronic pain have mostly focused on pain management and a lesser emphasis on sleep, but there is a recent interest in developing therapies to tackle both pain and sleep problems simultaneously,” Afolalu said. “This scale provides a useful clinical tool to assess and monitor treatment progress during these therapies.

The scale was tested on four groups of patients suffering from long-term pain and bad sleeping patterns, with the result showing that people who believe they won’t be able to sleep as a result of their pain are more likely to suffer from insomnia, thus causing worse pain.

The results show that the scale was vital in predicting patients’ level of insomnia and pain difficulties. With better sleep, pain problems are significantly reduced, especially after receiving a short course of CBT for both pain and insomnia.

The study has provided therapists the means with which to identify and monitor rigid thoughts about sleep and pain that are sleep-interfering, allowing the application of the proven effective CBT for insomnia in people with chronic pain.

“Thoughts can have a direct and/or indirect impact on our emotion, behavior and even physiology. The way how we think about sleep and its interaction with pain can influence the way how we cope with pain and manage sleeplessness,” said Dr. Nicole Tang, the senior author.

“Based on clinical experience, whilst some of these beliefs are healthy and useful, others are rigid and misinformed. The new scale, PBAS, is developed to help us pick up those beliefs that have a potential role in worsening the insomnia and pain experience,” Tang said.

The study appears in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

By Rick Nauert PhD

Experts explain that although high-functioning children with an autism spectrum disorder often have above average intellectual capabilities, they often experience social difficulties.

The communication challenges and difficulty inhibiting thoughts and regulating emotions can lead to social isolation and low self-esteem.

A method to help these children appears on the near horizon as research from the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas suggests a new virtual reality training program shows promise.

“Individuals with autism may become overwhelmed and anxious in social situations,” research clinician Dr. Nyaz Didehbani said.

“The virtual reality training platform creates a safe place for participants to practice social situations without the intense fear of consequence.”

Researchers found that participants who completed the training demonstrated improved social cognition skills and reported better relationships. Neurocognitive testing showed significant gains in emotional recognition, understanding the perspective of others and the ability to solve problems.

Study findings appear in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

For the study, 30 young people ages seven to 16 with high-functioning autism were matched into groups of two. The teams completed 10, one-hour sessions of virtual reality training for five weeks.

Participants learned strategies and practiced social situations such as meeting a peer for the first time, confronting a bully and inviting someone to a party. Participants interacted with two clinicians through virtual avatars.

One clinician served as a coach, providing instructions and guidance, while the other was the conversational partner who played a classmate, bully, teacher or others, depending on the scenario in the world that’s similar to a video game.

“This research builds on past studies we conducted with adults on the autism spectrum and demonstrates that virtual reality may be a promising and motivating platform for both age groups,” said Tandra Allen, head of virtual training programs.

“This was the first study to pair participants together with the goal of enhancing social learning. We observed relationships in life grow from virtual world conversations. We saw a lot of growth in their ability to initiate and maintain a conversation, interpret emotions, and judge the quality of a friendship.”

“It’s exciting that we can observe changes in diverse domains including emotion recognition, making social attribution, and executive functions related to reasoning through this life-like intervention,” said Dr. Daniel C. Krawczyk.

“These results demonstrate that core social skills can be enhanced using a virtual training method.”

Source: University of Texas, Dallas