It is the broad goal of this study to examine the relationship between reproductive hormones and mood during the menstrual cycle in normal women and women with a history of affective illness. specifically, we will be testing four hypotheses: 1. A population of normal women exists that can be objectively identified as having consistent cyclinical mood chantes during the menstrual cycle. 2. A population of women with a history of affective disorder exists that can be objectively identified as having consistent cyclical mood changes during the menstrual cycle. 3. A relationship exists between reproductive hormones and mood during the menstrual cycle in normal women and women with a history of affective illness. 4. LHRH analogue induced ablation of the menstrual cycle can be used to examine whether mood changes in the menstrual cycle are: a) casually related to the changes in pituitary and gonadal hormones of an ovulatory cycle b) occur independent of but are exacerbated by the changes in pituitary and gonadal hormones of an ovulatory cycle c) temporally coincidental but unrelated to hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle By examining whether ablation of the menstrual cycle results in a) the disappearance of cyclical mood changes, b) the attenuation of cyclical mood changes or c) has no effect. It has been hypothesized that the cyclical changes in mood that have been observed in the menstrual cycle may be due to a common neuroendocrine pathway which regulates both mood and steroid hormone concentrations. An examination of the relationship between mood changes and reproductive hormone dynamics during the menstrual cycle should provide some insight into these important neuroendocrine pathways. It would also provide us with an understanding of the etiology of premenstrual symptomatology and may suggest a treatment for symptoms which are distressful to many women.
