Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T12:48:38.164Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Visual sensitivity across the menstrual cycle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2004

ALVIN EISNER ,
SARA N. BURKE  and
MAUREEN D. TOOMEY
ALVIN EISNER
Affiliation:
Neurological Sciences Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland
SARA N. BURKE
Affiliation:
Program in Neuroscience, University of Arizona, Tucson
MAUREEN D. TOOMEY
Affiliation:
Neurological Sciences Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate the hypothesis that hormonal change can affect lower level light-adaptation processes, which are likely to be retinally based. Foveal visual sensitivities were measured across several menstrual cycles of four women not using hormonally acting medication and across several menstrual cycles of three women using a triphasic oral contraceptive. One woman, diagnosed with premenstrual syndrome (PMS), was a subject for both groups. Sensitivities were measured for a series of test wavelengths for 580-nm backgrounds of 2.0 and 4.0 log td. Of the six individuals tested, one had clear evidence of visual-adaptation changes occurring in phase with the menstrual cycle. Prior to using the oral contraceptive, this individual (the PMS subject) experienced changes of short-wavelength-sensitive (SWS)-cone-mediated sensitivities of up to about 1.4 log unit on the 4.0 log td background. Her SWS-cone-mediated sensitivities tended to be highest near ovulation and lowest premenstrually. Threshold-versus-illuminance (TVI) curves confirmed that the rate of sensitivity decrease with increasing background illuminance (i.e. the TVI slope) was greater premenstrually. The degree of background-induced desensitization within her middle-wavelength-sensitive (MWS)/long-wavelength-sensitive (LWS) cone pathways also appeared to vary cyclically, but the magnitude of the variation was smaller and the time course appeared to be different. When this subject began oral contraceptive use, the patterns of sensitivity change were all altered. None of the other five subjects experienced changes of SWS-cone-mediated vision that were cyclic and significantly adaptation-state dependent. However, there was evidence for a limited degree of cyclic adaptation change within the MWS/LWS cone pathways of at least one additional subject. We conclude that hormonal change can—for some unknown proportion of women—be linked to alterations of retinal function. However, the alterations are not the same for all visual pathways, and there are pronounced individual differences. The data also demonstrate that individuals' visual adaptation capabilities can vary substantially over periods of weeks.

Keywords

Blue conesEstrogenMenstrual cycleOral contraceptiveVisual adaptation
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , July 2004 , pp. 513 - 531
Copyright
2004 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Calkins, D.J. (2001). Seeing with S cones. Progress in Retinal and Eye Research 20, 255–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cleveland, W.S. (1979). Robust locally weighted regression and smoothing scatterplots. Journal of the American Statistical Association 74, 829–836.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dacey, D.M. (2000). Parallel pathways for spectral coding in primate retina. Annual Review of Neuroscience 23, 743–775.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisner, A. (1986). Multiple components in photopic dark adaptation. Journal of the Optical Society of America A 3, 655–666.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisner, A., Austin, D.F., & Samples, J.R. (2004). Short wavelength automated perimetry and tamoxifen use. British Journal of Ophthalmology 88, 125–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Epperson, C.N., Haga, K., Mason, G.F., Sellers, E., Gueorguieva, R., Zhang, W., Weiss, E., Rothman, D.L., & Krystal, J.H. (2002). Cortical gamma-aminobutyric acid levels across the menstrual cycle in healthy women and those with premenstrual dysphoric disorder: a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study. Archives of General Psychiatry 59, 851–858.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Felius, J. & Swanson, W.H. (2003). Effects of cone adaptation on variability in S-cone increment thresholds. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 44, 4140–4146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeman, E.W. (2003). Premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder: Definitions and diagnosis. Psychoneuroendocrinology 28 (Suppl. 3), 25–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garcia-Segura, L.M., Azcoitia, I., & DonCarlos, L.L. (2001). Neuroprotection by estradiol. Progress in Neurobiology 63, 29–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldzieher, J.W. (1990). Selected aspects of the pharmacokinetics and metabolism of ethinyl estrogens and their clinical implications. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 163, 318–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gruber, C.J., Tschugguel, W., Schneeberger, C., & Huber, J.C. (2002). Production and actions of estrogens. New England Journal of Medicine 346, 340–352.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guttridge, N.M. (1994). Changes in ocular and visual variables during the menstrual cycle. Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics 14, 38–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holmes, T.T. & Rahe, R.H. (1967). The social readjustment rating scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 11, 213–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hood, D.C. (1998). Lower-level visual processing and models of light adaptation. Annual Review of Psychology 49, 503–535.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaja, S., Yang, S.H., Wei, J., Fujitani, K., Liu, R., Brun-Zinkernagel, A.M., Simpkins, J.W., Inokuchi, K., & Koulen, P. (2003). Estrogen protects the inner retina from apoptosis and ischemia-induced loss of Vesl-1L/Homer 1c immunoreactive synaptic connections. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 44, 3155–3162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katzenellenbogen, B.S. (2000). Mechanisms of action and cross-talk between estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor pathways. Journal of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation 7, S33–S37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kobayashi, K., Kobayashi, H., Ueda, M., & Honda, Y. (1998). Estrogen receptor expression in bovine and rat retinas. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 39, 2105–2110.Google Scholar
LaGuardia, K.D., Shangold, G., Fisher, A., Friedman, A., & Kafrissen, M. (2003). Efficacy, safety and cycle control of five oral contraceptive regimens containing norgestimate and ethinyl estradiol. Contraception 67, 431–437.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambert, J.J., Belelli, D., Peden, D.R., Vardy, A.W., & Peters, J.A. (2003). Neurosteroid modulation of GABAA receptors. Progress in Neurobiology 71, 67–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leavitt, W.W., Cobb, A.D., & Takeda, A. (1987). Progesterone-modulation of estrogen action: Rapid down regulation of nuclear acceptor sites for the estrogen receptor. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 230, 49–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marin-Castano, M.E., Elliot, S.J., Potier, M., Karl, M., Striker, L.J., Striker, G.E., Csaky, K.G., & Cousins, S.W. (2003). Regulation of estrogen receptors and MMP-2 expression by estrogens in human retinal pigment epithelium. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 44, 50–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCullough, L.D. & Hurn, P.D. (2003). Estrogen and ischemic neuroprotection: An integrated view. Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism 14, 228–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McEwen, B. (2002). Estrogen actions throughout the brain. Recent Progress in Hormone Research 57, 357–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McEwen, B., Akama, K., Alves, S., Brake, W.G., Bulloch, K., Lee, S., Li, C., Yuen, G., & Milner, T.A. (2001). Tracking the estrogen receptor in neurons: Implications for estrogen-induced synapse formation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 98, 7093–7100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McEwen, B.S., & Alves, S.E. (1999). Estrogen actions in the central nervous system. Endocrine Reviews 20, 279–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munaut, C., Lambert, V., Noel, A., Frankenne, F., Deprez, M., Foidart, J.M., & Rakic, J.M. (2001). Presence of oestrogen receptor type beta in human retina. British Journal of Ophthalmology 85, 877–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nilsson, S. & Gustafsson, J.A. (2002). Biological role of estrogen and estrogen receptors. Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 37, 1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ogueta, S.B., Schwartz, S.D., Yamashita, C.K., & Farber, D.B. (1999). Estrogen receptor in the human eye: Influence of gender and age on gene expression. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 40, 1906–1911.Google Scholar
Pugh, E.N. & Mollon, J.D. (1979). A theory of the pi1 and pi3 color mechanisms of Stiles. Vision Research 19, 293–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ross, C., Coleman, G., & Stojanovska, C. (2003). Prospectively reported symptom change across the menstrual cycle in users and non-users of oral contraceptives. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynaecology 24, 15–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmidt, P.J., Nieman, L.K., Danaceau, M.A., Adams, L.F., & Rubinow, D.R. (1998). Differential behavioral effects of gonadal steroids in women with and in those without premenstrual syndrome. New England Journal of Medicine 338, 209–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Segal, M. & Murphy, D. (2001). Estradiol induces formation of dendritic spines in hippocampal neurons: Functional correlates. Hormones and Behavior 40, 156–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shapiro, A.G., Beere, J.L., & Zaidi, Q. (2003). Time course of S-cone system adaptation to simple and complex fields. Vision Research 43, 1135–1147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, M.J., Keel, J.C., Greenberg, B.D., Adams, L.F., Schmidt, P.J., Rubinow, D.R., & Wassermann, E.M. (1999). Menstrual cycle effects on cortical excitability. Neurology 53, 2069–2072.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Speroff, L., Glass, R.H., & Kase, N.G. (1999). Clinical Gynecologic Endocrinology and Infertility, 6th edition. Baltimore, Maryland: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Wickham, L.A., Gao, J., Toda, I., Rocha, E.M., Ono, M., & Sullivan, D.A. (2000). Identification of androgen, estrogen and progesterone receptor mRNAs in the eye. Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica 78, 146–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkinson, L., Blank, G., & Gruber, C. (1996). Desktop Data Analysis with SYSTAT. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Williams, D.R., MacLeod, D.I A., & Hayhoe, M.M. (1981). Punctate sensitivity of the blue-sensitive mechanism. Vision Research 21, 1357–1375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wong, C.G., Bottiglieri, T., & Snead, O.C. (2003). GABA, gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, and neurological disease. Annals of Neurology 54 (Suppl. 6), S3–S12.Google Scholar
Yankova, M., Hart, S.A., & Woolley, C.S. (2001). Estrogen increases synaptic connectivity between single presynaptic inputs and multiple postsynaptic CA1 pyramidal cells: A serial electron-microscopic study. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 98, 3525–3530.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yilmaz, H., Erkin, E.F., Mavioglu, H., & Sungurtekin, U. (1998). Changes in pattern reversal evoked potentials during menstrual cycle. International Ophthalmology 22, 27–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, J.Q., Cai, W.Q., Zhou, D.S., & Su, B.Y. (2002). Distribution and differences of estrogen receptor beta immunoreactivity in the brain of adult male and female rats. Brain Research 10, 73–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar