Although posited as an explanation for reproductive endocrine-related mood disorders, differential hormone sensitivity is an elusive concept. In this editorial, we define differential sensitivity, embed it in current understanding of the generation of brain states and discuss its practical utility.

The menopausal transition (MT) is associated with an increased risk for many disorders including neurological and mental disorders. Brain imaging studies in living humans show changes in brain metabolism and structure that may contribute to the MT-associated brain disease risk. Although deficits in ovarian hormones have been implicated, cellular and molecular studies of the brain undergoing MT are currently lacking, mostly due to a difficulty in studying MT in postmortem human brain. To enable this research, we explored 40 candidate biomarkers for menopausal status in 42 pre-, peri-, and post-menopausal subjects across three postmortem tissues: blood, the hypothalamus, and pituitary gland. We identified fourteen significant and seven strongest menopausal biomarkers across the three tissues. Using these biomarkers, we generated multi-tissue and tissue-specific composite measures that allow the postmortem identification of the menopausal status across different age ranges, including the “perimenopausal”, 45–55-year-old group. Our findings enable the study of cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying increased neuropsychiatric risk during the MT, opening the path for hormone status-informed, precision medicine approach in women’s mental health.

The extensive literature on the contact hypothesis reports a positive association between intergroup contact and outgroup attitudes, yet it remains unknown whether this association reflects within-person (i.e., situational changes within individuals) or between-person (i.e., stable differences between individuals) effects. To investigate this question, we applied (random-intercept) cross-lagged panel models in two studies featuring different samples, measurements, and contexts. We found longitudinal contact–attitude associations in cross-lagged panel models, which cannot differentiate within-person and between-person effects. In random-intercept cross-lagged panel models, we identified between-person effects but not within-person effects. These results conflict with the contact hypothesis, which assumes that contact leads to intra-individual attitude change. We further investigated whether between-person effects represent spurious correlations caused by potential confounders (demographic characteristics, personality, and intergroup ideologies), but found that this was not the case. Our findings highlight the need to further investigate within-person effects and potential explanations of between-person differences in contact and attitudes.

The hippocampus undergoes substantial structural and functional changes during puberty, and animal studies have demonstrated that puberty-related gonadal hormones may influence hippocampal morphology. However, our understanding of the relationship between puberty-related neuroendocrine processes and hippocampal volume across development in humans remains limited. We longitudinally investigated the possible relationship between the developmental trajectory of hippocampal volume and serum estradiol and testosterone levels in healthy boys and girls from age eight through the pubertal transition to age 18.

Sex differences in the course and prevalence of dopamine-related neuropsychiatric disorders may be partially mediated by sex hormone-dopamine interactions. Evidence from rodent studies suggest that endogenous ovarian hormones modulate presynaptic dopamine function. Here, we tested for sex differences as well as effects of menstrual cycle phase on presynaptic dopamine function using PET in healthy men and women.

HPA axis dysregulations are consistently reported in depression and other mood disorders, whereas previous studies examining HPA axis function in women with PMDD have yielded inconsistent findings. In this study, we characterized the HPA axis in women with PMDD using the combined dexamethasone suppression and CRH stimulation (Dex/CRH) test and 24-hour urine free cortisol (UFC).

Purpose Mental distress has become a major public health concern. Temporal trends in psychological distress are complex and depend on numerous factors. In this study, we examined age-period-cohort effects for mental distress including gender and German region over a 15 years’ time span. Methods Data on mental distress from ten cross-sectional surveys of the general German population, covering the years from 2006 to 2021, was used. Hierarchical age-period-cohort analyses including gender and German region as predictors were performed to disentangle age, period, and cohort effects. The Patient Health Questionnaire-4 was used as a brief screener for mental distress. Results We found significant period and cohort effects, with peek values for mental distress in the years 2017 and 2020 and for the oldest birth cohort (born before 1946). Age did not affect mental distress when cohort- and period effects as well as gender and German region were considered. An interaction effect for gender and the German region was found. Women in West Germany reported significantly higher mental distress compared to women in East Germany. Compared to men, women reported the highest prevalence in both regions. Conclusion Important political events as well as major crises can lead to an increase of mental distress in societies. Furthermore, an association between birth cohort and mental distress could be linked to socialization effects of that certain time, causing traumatic experiences or a specific coping style within this cohort group. Prevention and intervention strategies could benefit from acknowledging structural differences linked to period and cohort effects.