Archive · 3 Sep 2026
Study Links Higher Progesterone With Altered Emotional Brain Activity
Researchers studied 116 women who were naturally having menstrual cycles.
They measured a hormone called progesterone using saliva samples.
The women also answered questions about their moods and completed an emotional task during an MRI scan.
In the task, they had to react normally or do the opposite when shown happy and angry faces.
When progesterone was higher, one brain area had more similar activity during easy and difficult tasks.
This suggested that the brain had a harder time telling the two emotional situations apart.
Participants with higher progesterone also tended to report lower moods.
The study shows a link, but it does not prove that progesterone causes mood changes.
More research is needed to understand how hormones affect emotional control.
A study found that higher progesterone levels were linked to less distinct brain activity during emotional-control tasks.
The effect appeared in the lateral frontal pole, a brain region involved in distinguishing emotional situations.
Participants with higher progesterone also reported lower overall mood.
Researchers analyzed MRI scans, hormone measurements, and questionnaires from 116 naturally cycling women.
The researchers cautioned that the one-time measurement cannot prove that progesterone directly causes changes in mood or brain activity.
- Who
- Researchers led by Macia Buades-Rotger at the University of Barcelona studied 116 naturally cycling women.
- What
- The study examined links between progesterone, brain activity during emotional-control tasks, and mood.
- When
- Participants were assessed at a stage of their menstrual cycle, but the article does not specify a single study date.
- Where
- The research was conducted by investigators from the University of Barcelona in Spain.
- Why
- Researchers sought to understand how natural ovarian hormone levels may influence emotion-control processes and mood.
- Participants
- 116 naturally cycling women
- Hormones measured
- Progesterone and estradiol
- Measurement method
- Saliva samples, mood questionnaires, and MRI scans
- Emotional task
- Participants responded naturally or counterintuitively to happy and angry faces
- Brain region
- The lateral frontal pole
- Main association
- Higher progesterone was linked to less distinguishable brain activity between easy and difficult emotional situations
- Study limitation
- A one-time measurement cannot establish cause and effect