Role of Stress and Sex Hormones on Emotional Memory

The number of women suffering from disorders related to the menstrual cycle like PMS is ever increasing, around 80% of women experience some form of physical and/or emotional discomfort during their luteal phase. Unfortunately, all the cases aren't reported and thus the diagnosis of PMS becomes difficult and its mechanism is still under study. Female reproductive hormones play a significant role in pathways that help in encoding, consolidation and recollection of memory, and this is possible due to interaction of these hormones with their receptors in various areas of the brain. Alongside to this is the role of stress hormones like cortisol, which hold significant value in influencing aspects of cognition, particularly memory related to emotional events, by binding to specific receptors on the amygdala. PMS is a gender specific stress, and thus can be used to understand the correlation between hormones, stress and their combined effect on aspects of emotional memory. The review focuses on understanding this correlation and highlighting the role of CBT in relieving the symptoms of stress related disorders.