Functional Brain Connectivity Across the Menstrual Cycle

The cyclical fluctuations of oestradiol and progesterone orchestrate profound modulations in the brain’s functional architecture. Across the menstrual cycle, large-scale networks such as the default mode network, dorsal attention network, salience network and executive control system undergo dynamic reorganisations. These hormonal changes influence network integration, segregation and flexibility, resulting in phase-dependent variations in whole-brain coherence, regional connectivity strengths and temporal complexity. Pre-ovulatory peaks in oestradiol enhance global network efficiency and promote hypersynchrony within cortical hubs, whereas luteal surges in progesterone often dampen long-range communication, favouring more localised interactions. Such network reconfigurations are implicated in cognitive performance, mood regulation and sensorimotor function, underscoring the significance of endocrine-driven brain dynamics for women’s health and well-being.

Research from Nature Portfolio

High-resolution magnetoencephalography recordings reveal that the peri-ovulatory phase is associated with increased brain flexibility, evidenced by a larger functional repertoire in the beta frequency band and recruitment of regions such as the posterior cingulate gyrus and insula. Spectral dynamic causal modelling demonstrates cyclical shifts in effective connectivity among the default mode, salience and executive control networks. Specifically, just before ovulation the insula enhances its influence on frontal executive nodes, while in the mid-luteal phase bidirectional engagement within salience networks intensifies and connectivity to parietal executive regions diminishes. Complementing these findings, studies of the cerebellum show that intrinsic cerebellar coherence across ventral attention, dorsal attention and somatomotor networks is tightly coupled to day-by-day variations in oestradiol and progesterone, highlighting subcortical contributions to cycle-dependent network dynamics.

Functional Brain Connectivity Across the Menstrual Cycle publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in functional brain connectivity across the menstrual cycle across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Functional connectivity: Statistical association of neural activity patterns between distinct brain regions.

Resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI): Non-task-based imaging method measuring spontaneous brain activity through blood oxygenation signals.

Default mode network (DMN): A set of interconnected cortical regions active during wakeful rest and internal mentation.

Dorsal attention network (DAN): A frontoparietal circuit involved in goal-directed attentional control.

Spectral dynamic causal modelling (spDCM): A technique estimating directed influences (effective connectivity) among brain networks using frequency-domain data.

Functional repertoire: The diversity of transient brain activation patterns or configurations observed over time.

Community detection: A network-analysis method identifying clusters of brain regions that transiently interact more strongly with each other than with other regions.

References

1. Brain flexibility increases during the peri-ovulatory phase as compared to early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. Scientific Reports (2024).
2. Spectral dynamic causal modelling in healthy women reveals brain connectivity changes along the menstrual cycle. Communications Biology (2021).
3. Cerebellar network organization across the human menstrual cycle. Scientific Reports (2020).
4. Functional reorganization of brain networks across the human menstrual cycle. NeuroImage (2020).
5. Dynamic community detection reveals transient reorganization of functional brain networks across a female menstrual cycle. Network Neuroscience (2021).
6. The Menstrual Cycle Modulates Whole-Brain Turbulent Dynamics. Frontiers in Neuroscience (2021).