Impulsivity, mood and the contingent negative variation in women with and without premenstrual changes in impulsive behaviour

Abstract

Contingent negative variation (CNV), postimperative variation (PIV) and reaction time (RT) were recorded in a signalled Go/No Go avoidance paradigm, verbal and visuo-spatial versions of a match/mismatch paradigm, and an auditory forewarned RT paradigm at 3 menstrual cycle phases—menstrual, mid-cycle and premenstrual—in 3 samples of women: women without significant premenstrual changes (PMCs) in mood and behaviour; women with documented PMCs in mood and behaviour excluding premenstrual impulsivity; and women with documented PMCs in mood and behaviour including changes in impulsive behaviour. Subjective stress and arousal were also measured at each cycle phase. Recordings were repeated in a small sample of women with PMCs during treatment with fluoxetine/ placebo. There was no relationship between either state or trait measures of impulsivity and Go/No Go CNV, in contrast with previous findings in males. MANOVA revealed significant Group × Phase interactions for early CNV amplitude and laterality in the forewarned RT paradigm, and for subjective stress, supporting a “disordered state regulation” hypothesis of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Other measures (subjective arousal, PIV in the Go/No Go paradigm) showed significant effects of Group independent of cycle phase, with PMS groups showing lower arousal and greater postimperative positivity than controls.