Current Projects
This is a selection of ongoing studies in our lab.
Rhythms of the Female Heart: The Impact of Cycling Sex Hormones on Cardiac Interoception (FEM-CYCLE Study)
From puberty to menopause, the female brain is exposed to cyclical changes in endogenous ovarian hormones as part of the menstrual cycle. Earlier research has highlighted that these hormonal fluctuations can impact the perception of and responding to salient exteroceptive cues, such as others' emotions, across the menstrual cycle. However, the influence of these cyclical hormonal changes on the ability to perceive the internal state of your body (e.g., feeling your own heartbeat; 'interoception') remains uncharted territory. Importantly, female participants have been shown to perform significantly worse on various heartbeat perception tasks, suggesting that these disparities in heartbeat perception could be a fundamental factor behind reported sex differences in cardiovascular disease and brain disorders, such as depression and cognitive dysfunction. The underlying causes and mechanisms behind these sex differences remain unknown. Here, we seek to identify the role of menstrual cycle-related hormonal changes for poor female heartbeat detection, which is particularly relevant given that the female resting heart rate varies significantly across the menstrual cycle. To do so, we will use innovative heart beat detection paradigms combined with simultaneous electrocardiography (ECG) and electroencephalography (EEG) recordings.
Psychosocial Stress & Endogenous Hormonal Transition Phases (SSHE Study)
Previous research suggests that empathic processes are influenced by sex hormone levels. Females generally report higher empathy and perform better on objective empathy and compassion tests. Empathic abilities also fluctuate across menstrual cycle phases and differ between naturally cycling females and females using oral contraceptives. Similarly, responses to psychosocial stress depend on sex hormone levels. Males typically show greater cortisol responses than females, while females in the follicular phase or taking oral contraceptives exhibit blunted cortisol responses compared to females in the luteal phase. Although there is theoretical support for an interaction between sex and stress hormones in influencing empathic processes, for example stress improves empathic accuracy in males but not in females, empirical evidence remains scarce and inconsistent. The SSHE project aims at disentangling sex and stress hormone influences on empathic processes in males, naturally cycling females in different menstrual cycle phases, and females using oral contraceptives.