Naslov
The relationship between some psychophysiological changes during the menstrual cycle

Autori
Proroković, Ana ; Gregov, Ljiljana

Izvornik
Medica Jadertina (0351-0093) 27 (1998), 1-4; 5-17

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
menstrual cycle; psychophysiological variables; reaction time; mental capacity

Sažetak
The study of changes in some psychophysiological variables during the menstrual cycle was carried out on 11 female subjects aged 19-22 years. The aim of the study was to establish the relationships amongst some psychophysiological variables (body temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure, state of anxiety, activation nad task difficulty assessment), as well as some efficiency variables (complex reaction time and residual mental capacity) during various phases of the menstrual cycle. The measurements of all the variables were taken every morning during the whole menstrual cycle for every subject. ANOVA of the results showed significant variations of all the variables during the menstrual cycle, but pulse rate and blood pressure. This is the most probably due to their proneness to the effects of environmental factors. Factor analysis of the results showed two separate factors, one of which saturated the psychophysiological variables and the other, the task variables. Lagged cross-correlation funtions showed that the task variables differers in the phases from the psychophysiological variables during the menstrual cycle. This is most probably due to the differences in the underlying mechanisms of the changes in the psychophysiological and task variables. It seems reasonable to suppose that the level of psychophysiological variables during the menstrual cycle is mainly under the interactive influences of ANS and the endocrine system, while the task efficiency is more influenced by the changes in the cortical activity. Perhaps, this could mean thet thechanges in ANS and the endocrine system influence the functional state of the cortex with some delay. Therefore, one of these factors (psychophysiological variables) could be considered as the primary, while the other (task variables) could be considered as the secondary factor.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Psihologija

POVEZANOST RADA