r/PMDD • u/DefiantThroat Perimenopause • Nov 02 '24

Peer Reviewed Research In a First, Scientists Found Structural, Brain-Wide Changes During Menstruation

https://www.sciencealert.com/in-a-first-scientists-found-structural-brain-wide-changes-during-menstruation
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u/ReferenceMuch2193 Nov 03 '24

Which is also poignant because fsh rises with menopause and if fsh causes thickening grey matter what does this mean?

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u/Eggs76 Nov 03 '24

It's very unlikely that grey matter thickens in response to hormonal changes. It would be extremely hard to track differences in cortical thickness in menopause that aren't linked to ageing of the brain in general

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u/ReferenceMuch2193 Nov 04 '24

The article stated a link, at least with this study, between fsh and grey matter.

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u/Eggs76 Nov 04 '24

It is really hard to track changes between scans that happen in short time periods. There is significant variability in noise, both physiology and scanner related, that cause fluctuations in volume over short time periods. This study didn't really control for or consider this at all. There are some things you can do that can at least try to account for this short term variability.

This is exactly my field of research and I am currently working on evaluating the level of volume fluctuation between short term scans, and developing methods that attempt to cut through the noise when taking volume measurements over time