FEM-CYCLE · Rhythms of the Female Heart: The Impact of Cycling Sex Hormones on Cardiac Signaling and Interoception

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Project objective

Every month, over two billion females around the world menstruate. In addition, an estimated 400 million females globally use hormonal contraception (""the pill""). Consequently, from puberty to menopause, the female heart and brain are continuously exposed to cyclical changes in sex hormones, e.g., associated with the menstrual cycle or hormonal contraceptive use, with direct implications for neuro-cardiac health. Both psychological symptoms and specific cardiac arrhythmias show an increased prevalence and burden during specific phases of the menstrual cycle. Given this association, it becomes evident that the menstrual cycle is a key factor in understanding the heart-brain connection and its effect on psychological and cardiac health. This project aims to reveal how two recently identified markers of the heart-brain axis relevant for psycho-cardiac health, i.e., cardiac signaling (denoting neural responses to cardiac signals) and cardiac interoception (denoting conscious awareness of signals arising from the heart), varies with sex, menstrual cycle phase, and hormonal contraceptive use. To this end, we will (1) utilize a novel psychophysiological task to assess cyclical and group changes in heartbeat detection; and (2) perform concurrent electrocardiogram and electroencephalogram recordings to study cyclical fluctuations in the heartbeat evoked potential (HEP). A male reference group will be adopted to provide a basis for comparative analyses. By adopting a multidisciplinary approach and integrating knowledge from cardiac psychophysiology, biological psychology and neuroendocrinology, to study the specific role of cycling female sex hormones on the heart-brain axis, this research aims to provide critical insights into the well-known sex discrepancies in mental and cardiovascular health, as well as the exacerbation of psychological and cardiac symptoms during specific menstrual cycle phases.""

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

• MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV · MUNCHENCoordinatorGermany

Links

• View on CORDIS
• DOI: 10.3030/101202608
• https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/documents/downloadPublic?documentIds=080166e525d35437&appId=PPGMS