Table 1.
Characteristics of the experimental groups.
Fig 1.
Schematic representation of experimental procedures and analysis of MEG (upper panel) and psychophysical data (lower panel). For a detailed description of the experimental procedures and analysis pipelines, see the Methods section. The procedures were identical between the two visits. ISI–inter-stimulus interval.
Fig 2.
Daily symptom severity scores (from 1 = ‘Not at all’ to 6 = ‘Extreme’) averaged over 20 symptoms (C-PASS questionnaire [88]) and two or three menstrual cycles in participants with PMDD.
The thin lines show individual participants; the thick line is the group average. The days are numbered relative to the start of menstruation (day 1).
Table 2.
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) results in PMDD and control groups.
Fig 3.
(a-d) Plasma levels of estradiol and progesterone in the control (a, c) and PMDD (b, d) groups in two phases of the menstrual cycle (follicular, luteal). (e-g) Violin plots show estradiol and progesterone concentrations and estradiol to progesterone ratios in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle in control subjects and subjects with PMDD. *p<0.05; **p<0.01.
Table 3.
Pearson’s correlations between age and gamma response (GR) power (log10-transformed) and frequency in the two groups of participants (control and PMDD).
Gamma parameters were averaged over the two phases of the menstrual cycle.
Table 4.
ANCOVA results for GR frequency.
Table 5.
ANCOVA results for log10-transformed GR power.
Fig 4.
Effect of the phase of the menstrual cycle on the weighted peak frequency of gamma response (GR).
The data are shown for four motion velocity conditions (‘static’: 0°/s, ‘slow’: 1.2°/s, ‘medium’: 3.6°/s, ‘fast’: 6.0°/s). (a) and (b) show comparison of the GR weighted peak frequency in the luteal and follicular phases separately for all control (a) and all PMDD (b) subjects. (c, d) show comparison of the GR weighted peak frequency in the luteal and follicular phases separately for those subjects, who came for the first investigation during their follicular (c, d left panel) or luteal (c, d right panel) phase. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals. *p<0.05; **p<0.01.
Fig 5.
Grand average spectra of gamma response (GR) ([stimulation-prestimulus] / prestimulus).
The spectra are shown for four motion velocity conditions (‘static’: 0°/s, ‘slow’: 1.2°/s, ‘medium’: 3.6°/s, ‘fast’: 6.0°/s), two phases of the menstrual cycle (follicular, luteal), and two groups of subjects (control (a), PMDD (b)). Shaded areas represent 95% confidence intervals.
Fig 6.
Group differences in gamma response (GR) power.
(a) Log10-transformed GR power modulation in four velocity conditions (‘static’: 0°/s, ‘slow’: 1.2°/s, ‘medium’: 3.6°/s, ‘fast’: 6.0°/s) in the follicular (left panel) and luteal (right panel) phases of the menstrual cycle. (b) Group differences in velocity-related GR power facilitation from the ‘static’ to the ‘slow’ velocity condition, estimated in percent of the GR power in the ‘slow’ condition, which induced maximal GR at the group level: (1—GR PowerStatic/GR PowerSlow)*100%. (c) Group differences in velocity-related GR power suppression from the ‘slow’ to the ‘medium’ velocity condition, estimated in percent of the GR power in the ‘slow’ condition: (1—GR PowerMedium/GR PowerSlow)*100%. (d) Correlation between luteal GR power suppression and premenstrual symptom (PMS) severity measured on the same day in women with PMDD. Error bars and shaded areas represent 95% confidence intervals.
Fig 7.
Dependence of motion direction distinction on the phase of the menstrual cycle (follicular, luteal phase) in control and PMDD participants.
(a) duration thresholds for the small and large stimuli (b) and spatial suppression index (SSI). Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals. *p<0.05; **p<10−8.