We studied modifications of EEG activity related to perception of visual stimuli (pictures) of the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) in women during different phases of the ovulatory (menstrual) cycle. We found that the woman’s brain is most intensely activated by both emotionally negative and positive visual stimuli during the follicular phase of the ovulatory cycle, while such activation is minimum during ovulation per se. Upon the action of neutral stimuli, cerebral activation was the most intense during the lutein phase (compared with that within other phases); manifestations of activation were concentrated in the right hemisphere. Cognitive and emotional components of perception of affective pictures were expressed to a greatest extent in the course of viewing positive stimuli during the follicular phase. Perception of emotionally pleasant stimuli during other phases was accompanied by lateralization of activation of sensory and analytical processes in the left hemisphere during the ovulatory phase and in the right hemisphere within the lutein phase. The viewing of emotionally negative pictures during the follicular phase led to a rise in the power of theta oscillations in the left frontal region and also to depression of the alpha activity in central/parietal parts of the left hemisphere, which can result from aggravation of anxiety and verbally shaped disturbing ideas upon the action of such stimuli. Presentation of erotically colored visual stimuli caused the most intense changes in the EEG, which depended on the phases of the ovulatory cycle, during post-stimulation time interval but not during the viewing of pictures itself.
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Neirofiziologiya/Neurophysiology, Vol. 42, No. 5, pp. 433–441, September-October, 2010.
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Makarchouk, N.E., Maksimovich, K.Y., Kravchenko, V.I. et al. Modifications of EEG Activity Related to Perception of Emotionally Colored, Erotic, and Neutral Pictures in Women during Different Phases of the Ovulatory (Menstrual) Cycle. Neurophysiology 42, 362–370 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11062-011-9170-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11062-011-9170-z