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Despite more than half a century of efforts to link hormone levels to women's psychological states, no association has been found between hormone levels and mood changes or mood disorders. Hormone treatments have not proved effective for premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), and their effectiveness for postpartum depression is unclear. An increasingly accepted theory suggests that some women are sensitive to changes in blood hormone levels rather than to absolute levels of hormones in circulation, and recent research has directed attention to possible menstrual-cycle-related fluctuations in γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels.
In this proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study of GABA levels in the occipital cortex, 9 women (mean age, 30) …