Project description
Effects of hormonal changes on women's neurocognitive functioning
The three crucial phases in a woman’s life, puberty, the menstrual cycle, and menopause, were historically seen only through the lens of female procreation cycles. Associations with cognitive, emotional, and social aspects, and the risks of depression and anxiety were ignored. The impact of fluctuating hormonal levels throughout a woman’s life has been overlooked in research, leading to detrimental consequences for women’s health. The ERC-funded ChangingLandscapes project aims to bridge this gap by conducting innovative multidisciplinary research that combines longitudinal, psychopharmacological, and neuroimaging techniques. It will uncover the effects of changing hormonal concentrations on neurocognitive functioning in women, finally enabling a profound understanding of crucial processes related to women's health and wellbeing in their entirety.
Objective
Puberty, menstrual cycle, and menopause are all critical periods in a female’s life characterized by drastic changes in sex hormone concentrations. These periods are also associated with changes in cognitive, affective and social processing as well as an increased risk of depression and anxiety, stressing the need to advance our understanding of effects of hormonal fluctuations on females’ well-being across the lifespan.
A central process directly associated with cognitive, affective, and social functioning is performance monitoring. Adequate processing of errors, reward, and feedback is essential for efficiently adapting to a changing environment in everyday life. Gender and age effects exist for these processes and disturbances have been linked to anxiety and depression, making performance monitoring an important topic in the investigation of neurocognitive functioning across the lifespan. However, research so far has largely ignored the effects of fluctuating hormonal levels.
To answer the outstanding question how changing hormonal concentrations affect neurocognitive functioning in women, I will employ a unique multi-disciplinary methodology combining longitudinal, psychopharmacological, and neuroimaging techniques. I will address the current gaps in our knowledge using a novel combination of three approaches: (1) a lifespan approach that includes female participants from late childhood to late adulthood, (2) a social approach that moves beyond the non-social focus of performance-monitoring research, and (3) a psychopharmacological approach that focuses on the interactions between the relevant exogenous and endogenous neurotransmitters and hormones for the first time.
The project represents a turning point in our understanding of the effects of naturally occurring hormonal variations on processes that are central for healthy cognitive, affective and social functioning, and will thus change the landscape of neurocognitive research relating to females of all ages.
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsHost institution
2311 EZ Leiden
Netherlands