The identification of emotional facial expressions in a delayed-matching-to-sample task: role of estrogen

In recent years, numerous studies evidenced the role of sex steroid hormones on neuropsychological functions. Physiological fluctuations in ovarian hormones across the menstrual cycle allow for non invasive studies of the effects of estrogen on cognition and underlie a reliable pattern of cognitive modification across the menstrual cycle. The performance in a working memory (WM) task for emotional facial expressions, using the six basic emotions as stimuli in the Delayed-Matching-to-Sample task (DMTS), was evaluated in young women in the different phases of the menstrual cycle. The subject performance in the DMTS differed in the three menstrual phases. During the follicular phase (FP), the number of incorrect answers significantly differed compared to those of menstrual phase (MP). In the FP, compared to the lacteal phase (LP), subjects showed a significant difference in the number of “no answers”. Our findings suggest that high levels of estradiol in the FP could have a negative effect on DMTS task. In fact, in the FP, compared to the MP, the percent of errors Our results suggest that estrogen exerts a negative modulator effect on DMTS working memory task, which is specific for selective facial expressions. Our data could contribute in clarifying the role of estrogen on WM, and represent a useful tool in the study of therapies for disturbances related to the phases of menstrual cycle.