Intensity-Dependent Influence of Interoceptive Accuracy on Psychophysiological Responses During Aerobic Exercise in Physically Inactive Men.

We aimed to investigate the influence of interoceptive accuracy on affective valence, arousal, and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) during 20 minutes of aerobic exercise at both moderate and heavy intensity among physically inactive men. We divided our participant sample into men with poor heartbeat perception (PHP, n = 13) and good heartbeat perception (GHP, n = 15), based on their cardioceptive accuracy. We measured their heart rate reserve (%HRreserve), perceived affective valence (Feeling Scale; +5/-5), perceived arousal (Felt Arousal Scale, 0-6), and ratings of perceived effort (RPE; Borg scale 6-20) every five minutes during an exercise session on a bicycle ergometer. During moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, the GHP group presented a greater decline in affective valence (p = 0.010; d = 1.06) and a greater increase in RPE (p = 0.004; d = 1.20) compared to the PHP group, with no group differences in %HRreserve (p = 0.590) and arousal (p = 0.629). Psychophysiological and physiological responses to the heavy-intensity aerobic exercise were not different between groups. We concluded that the influence of interoceptive accuracy on psychophysiological responses during submaximal fixed-intensity aerobic exercise was intensity-dependent in these physically inactive men.

Prophylactic action of ayahuasca in a non-human primate model of depressive-like behavior.

Observational studies of long-term users of ayahuasca, an Amazonian psychedelic brew, suggest an increase in resilience via improvements in emotion and cognition. Ayahuasca has also demonstrated clinical antidepressant effects in human and animal studies; however, its potential prophylactic action in depression has not been previously studied. Therefore, this experimental study sought to evaluate the potential prophylactic effects of repeated and long-term ayahuasca use, via the modulation of resilience, in a non-human primate animal model, Callithrix jacchus, subjected to a protocol for induction of depressive-like behavior. For the formation of the study groups, some juvenile marmosets were kept in their family groups (GF = 7), while for the two experimental groups, the animals were removed from the family and kept socially isolated. Then, part of the isolated animals made up the group in which ayahuasca was administered (AG, n = 6), while for others, no intervention was made (IG, n = 5). AG animals took ayahuasca (1.67 mL/300g body weight) at weeks 4 (before isolation), 8, and 12 (during isolation) of the study. More adaptive stress response was observed for the AG when compared to the IG. The AG showed higher cortisol reactivity and fecal cortisol levels than IG, while both measures were similar to FG. Moreover, AG animals showed no signs of anhedonia and no increase in chronic stress-related behaviors, which were expressed by the IG. Thus, ayahuasca seems to promote the expression of resilient responses, indicating a prophylactic action, buffering the emergence of depressive-like behaviors and cortisol alterations associated with major depression. These results are encouraging for further research on the prophylactic use of psychedelics to prevent psychopathologies associated with chronic stress.

Effect of the Menstrual Cycle on Electroencephalogram Alpha and Beta Bands During Motor Imagery and Action Observation.

Female sex steroids (FSS) can affect the motor system, modulating motor cortex excitability as well as performance in dexterity and coordination tasks. However, it has not yet been explored whether FSS affects the cognitive components of motor behavior. Mu is a sensorimotor rhythm observed by electroencephalography (EEG) in alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta (15-30 Hz) frequency bands in practices such as motor imagery (MI) and action observation (AO). This rhythm represents a window for studying the activity of neural circuits involved in motor cognition. Herein we investigated whether the alpha-mu and beta-mu power in the sensorimotor region (C3 and C4, hypothesis-driven approach) and the alpha and beta power over frontal, parietal, and occipital regions (data-driven approach) are modulated differently in the menstrual, follicular, and luteal phases of menstrual cycles in right-handed dominant women. To do so, these women underwent MI and AO in the three menstrual cycle phases. The spectral activity of the cortical regions for the alpha and beta bands were compared between phases of the menstrual cycle and a correlation analysis was also performed in relation to estrogen and progesterone levels. For the hypothesis-based approach, beta-mu event-related desynchronization (ERD) was significantly stronger in the C3 channel in the follicular phase than in the menstrual and luteal phases. For the data-driven approach, beta ERD during MI was higher in the follicular phase than in the menstrual and luteal phases in the frontal region. These findings suggest the effect of FSS on executive movement control. No effect of menstrual cycle phases was observed in cortical areas investigated during OA, but alpha and beta bands correlated positively with the follicular phase plasma estradiol level. Thus, the attenuation of alpha and beta bands referring to mirror neuron activities appears to be associated with inhibition of cortical activity when estradiol levels are lower, improving cognitive processing of motor action.

Natural and Experimental Evidence Drives Marmosets for Research on Psychiatric Disorders Related to Stress.

Knowledge of the behavioral ecology of marmosets carried out in their natural habitat associated with the advent of a non-invasive technique for measuring steroid hormones in feces has made a significant contribution to understanding their social relationships and sexual strategies. These studies showed that they are mainly monogamous, live in relatively stable social groups according to a social hierarchy in which females compete and males cooperate, and form social bonds similar to humans, which makes this species a potential animal model to study disorders related to social stress. In addition, laboratory studies observed the expression of behaviors similar to those in nature and deepened the descriptions of their social and reproductive strategies. They also characterized their responses to the challenge using behavioral, cognitive, physiological, and genetic approaches that were sexually dimorphic and influenced by age and social context. These findings, added to some advantages which indicate good adaptation to captivity and the benefits of the birth of twins, small size, and life cycle in comparison to primates of the Old World, led to their use as animal models for validating psychiatric diseases such as major depression. Juvenile marmosets have recently been used to develop a depression model and to test a psychedelic brew called Ayahuasca from the Amazon rainforest as an alternative treatment for major depression, for which positive results have been found which encourage further studies in adolescents. Therefore, we will review the experimental evidence obtained so far and discuss the extension of the marmoset as an animal model for depression.

Success of in vitro fertilization and its association with the levels of psychophysiological stress before and during the treatment.

Despite the advance of assisted reproduction, high rates of failure in treatment are still observed. Herein, we investigated how the psychophysiological stress profiles of patients can modulate the in vitro fertilization treatment (IVF) outcome. The women who had failure in IVF (n = 13; 65%) had higher baseline salivary cortisol awakening response and anxiety-state during treatment than patients who became pregnant (n = 7; 35%). Patients with major stress levels and religious coping style showed lower social support, which was correlated with higher anxiety. Therefore, we appointed stress modulators that negatively affect IVF and should be improved aiming to increase its success.

Can body mass index identify cardiac autonomic dysfunction in women who are apparently healthy?

We investigated the extent to which obesity could identify autonomic dysfunction of heart control in a cross-sectional study with 65 women (aged 18-45 years), categorized as eutrophic, overweight or obese. We collected anthropometric measures and measures of heart rate variability (HRV) between March 2015 and March 2017. Low frequency in normalized units (LF(nu)) over 46 was considered a marker of autonomic imbalance and high frequency in normalized units (HF(nu)) below 38 a marker of depressed vagal modulation. Overweight (mean difference MΔHF(nu) = -13.11 [95% confidence interval (CI) of difference, -25.88, -0.34], Hedges's g = 0.65, common language effect size (CL) = 68.1%) and obese (MΔHF(nu) = -21.22 [95% CI, -31.89, -10.55], Hedges's g = 1.17, CL = 79.2%) women presented depressed vagal modulation compared to eutrophic women. Autonomic imbalance increased as body mass index increased (eutrophic-to-overweight MΔLF(nu) = 13.06 [95% CI, 1.65, 24.47], g = 0.65, CL = 67.9%, and overweight-to-obese MΔLF(nu) = 21.07 [95% CI, 10.32, 31.82], g = 1.15, CL 78.9%). The odds ratio for depressed HF(nu) among overweight women was 2.36 (95% CI 0.77, 7.29) and 2.18 among obese women (95% CI 0.79, 5.99), as well as 9.17 (95% CI 2.62, 32.04) and 17.39 for increased LF(nu) (95% CI 2.13, 141.76), respectively. The parasympathetic activity is diminished and autonomic imbalance of the cardiac control increased with increasing BMI categories.

Consistency of three different questionnaires for evaluating sexual function in healthy young women.

BACKGROUND: Most studies on female sexual dysfunction are performed in population inventories and under specific clinical conditions. These approaches are performed using validated psychometric scales. Different scales to assess sexual function use different numbers of questions to characterize their domains. They also may or may not include domains of interaction between sexual partners. The objective of this study was to compare the precision between scales to be able to analyze their accuracy for better diagnosis of sexual dysfunction. METHODS: Fifty (50) healthy young women were enrolled in this study. Three questionnaires (FSFI, SQ-F, and GRISS) were applied to assess sexual function (n = 44). The accuracy measured by the area under the ROC curve (AUC) for individual domains and to cross-validated pairwise comparison of the three analyzed instruments was used. Kruskall-Wallis test to analyze individual domains of the scales was also used.The P-value was established as 0.05. RESULTS: The results showed that all domains and total FSFI and GRISS scores were significantly different between normal and dysfunctional women, but not for SQ-F domains. Indeed, AUC accuracy varied from excellent-good domain discrimination for FSFI and GRISS, but fair-poor for SQ-F. For the paired comparison between the three questionnaires a fair accuracy was detected. The specificity percentage was around 84% whereas that for sensibility was low, around 30%. CONCLUSIONS: The best agreement was between FSFI and SQ-F, probably being related to high similar shared questions when compared to GRISS. The agreement between SQ-F and GRISS was low possible due to low number of questions in SQ-F to characterize similar domains. This study evidenced high agreement between scales to sensitivity and low agreement for specificity, thereby conferring fair accuracy between them. Thus, the limited grade for discriminatory capacity (AUC) for sexual response should be considered when comparing results from these three different questionnaires and also when comparing with other different scales. In addition, despite the diversity of scales, the high reliability and fit for their desire domain suggest that the FSFI scale has good accuracy for the current clinical assessment of women's sexual health. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT03241524 . Retrospectively registered on 08/02/2017.

Sex-biased gene expression in the frontal cortex of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) and potential behavioral correlates.

INTRODUCTION: The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), a small New World monkey, has been widely used as a biological model in neuroscience to elucidate neural circuits involved in cognition and to understand brain dysfunction in neuropsychiatric disorders. In this regard, the availability of gene expression data derived from next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies represents an opportunity for a molecular contextualization. Sexual dimorphism account for differences in diseases prevalence and prognosis. Here, we explore sex differences on frontal cortex of gene expression in common marmoset's adults. METHODS: Gene expression profiles in six different tissues (cerebellum, frontal cortex, liver, heart, and kidney) were analyzed in male and female marmosets. To emphasize the translational value of this species for behavioral studies, we focused on sex-biased gene expression from the frontal cortex of male and female in common marmosets and compared to humans (Homo sapiens). RESULTS: In this study, we found that frontal cortex genes whose expression is male-biased are conserved between marmosets and humans and enriched with "house-keeping" functions. On the other hand, female-biased genes are more related to neural plasticity functions involved in remodeling of synaptic circuits, stress cascades, and visual behavior. Additionally, we developed and made available an application-the CajaDB-to provide a friendly interface for genomic, expression, and alternative splicing data of marmosets together with a series of functionalities that allow the exploration of these data. CajaDB is available at cajadb.neuro.ufrn.br. CONCLUSION: The data point to differences in gene expression of male and female common marmosets in all tissues analyzed. In frontal cortex, female-biased expression in synaptic plasticity, stress, and visual processing might be linked to biological and behavioral mechanisms of this sex. Due to the limited sample size, the data here analyzed are for exploratory purposes.

Common Marmosets: A Potential Translational Animal Model of Juvenile Depression.

Major depression is a psychiatric disorder with high prevalence in the general population, with increasing expression in adolescence, about 14% in young people. Frequently, it presents as a chronic condition, showing no remission even after several pharmacological treatments and persisting in adult life. Therefore, distinct protocols and animal models have been developed to increase the understanding of this disease or search for new therapies. To this end, this study investigated the effects of chronic social isolation and the potential antidepressant action of nortriptyline in juvenile Callithrix jacchus males and females by monitoring fecal cortisol, body weight, and behavioral parameters and searching for biomarkers and a protocol for inducing depression. The purpose was to validate this species and protocol as a translational model of juvenile depression, addressing all domain criteria of validation: etiologic, face, functional, predictive, inter-relational, evolutionary, and population. In both sexes and both protocols (IDS and DPT), we observed a significant reduction in cortisol levels in the last phase of social isolation, concomitant with increases in autogrooming, stereotyped and anxiety behaviors, and the presence of anhedonia. The alterations induced by chronic social isolation are characteristic of the depressive state in non-human primates and/or in humans, and were reversed in large part by treatment with an antidepressant drug (nortriptyline). Therefore, these results indicate C. jacchus as a potential translational model of juvenile depression by addressing all criteria of validation.

Effect of chronic stress during adolescence in prefrontal cortex structure and function.

Critical periods of plasticity (CPPs) are defined by developmental intervals wherein neuronal circuits are most susceptible to environmental influences. The CPP of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which controls executive functions, extends up to early adulthood and, like other cortical areas, reflects the maturation of perineuronal nets (PNNs) surrounding the cell bodies of specialized inhibitory interneurons. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the effect of chronic stress on both structure and function of the adolescent's rat PFC. We subjected P28 rats to stressful situations for 7, 15 and 35days and evaluated the spatial distribution of histochemically-labeled PNNs in both the Medial Prefrontal Cortex (MPFC) and the Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC) and PFC-associated behavior as well. Chronic stress affects PFC development, slowing PNN maturation in both the (MPFC) and (OFC) while negatively affecting functions associated with these areas. We speculate upon the risks of prolonged exposure to stressful environments in human adolescents and the possibility of stunted development of executive functions.

Physiological and behavioral responses to routine procedures in captive common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus).

The effect of routine captive procedures on the welfare of species used as experimental models in biomedical research is of great interest, since stress may alter the generalization and interpretation of results. This study investigated behavioral and endocrine (fecal cortisol) reactivity patterns in common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) adult males (N = 10) and females (N = 9) subjected to three types of routine procedures in captivity: (1) moving to a same-sized cage (P1), to a smaller cage (P2), and (2) first-time pair formation (P3). Sexually dimorphic cortisol responses were detected in animals submitted to a physical environmental stressor (cage change). Females showed an increased response throughout P1, in relation to baseline (BP) cortisol, and a trend during P2. Males increased cortisol only during P2. On the other hand, males and females showed a similar endocrine response when management involved social challenge (pair formation), with both sexes increasing cortisol levels, but females exhibited a more intense and longer-lasting cortisol increase. Males and females exhibited similar behavioral responses to cage change, except for autogrooming, with males decreasing this behavior in P1. Only females demonstrated a significantly higher increase in piloerection frequency than that of males during the pair formation phase. These endocrine and behavioral changes must be taken into account when interpreting research data that involve these types of procedures. Further studies on the impacts of routine colony management are required to devise and include protocols in official husbandry guidelines.

Endocrine and Cognitive Adaptations to Cope with Stress in Immature Common Marmosets (Callithrix jacchus): Sex and Age Matter.

Phenotypic sex differences in primates are associated with body differentiation during the early stages of life, expressed in both physiological and behavioral features. Hormones seem to play a pivotal role in creating a range of responses to meet environmental and social demands, resulting in better reactions to cope with challenges to survival and reproduction. Steroid hormones actively participate in neuroplasticity and steroids from both gonads and neurons seem to be involved in behavioral modulation in primates. Indirect evidence suggests the participation of sexual steroids in dimorphism of the stress response in common marmosets. This species is an important experimental model in psychiatry, and we found a dual profile for cortisol in the transition from juvenile to subadult, with females showing higher levels. Immature males and females at 6 and 9 months of age moved alone from the family group to a new cage, over a 21-day period, expressed distinct patterns of cortisol variation with respect to range and duration of response. Additional evidence showed that at 12 months of age, males and females buffered the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis during chronic stress. Moreover, chronic stressed juvenile marmoset males showed better cognitive performance in working memory tests and motivation when compared to those submitted to short-term stress living in family groups. Thus, as cortisol profile seems to be sexually dimorphic before adulthood, age and sex are critical variables to consider in approaches that require immature marmosets in their experimental protocols. Moreover, available cognitive tests should be scrutinized to allow better investigation of cognitive traits in this species.

Parturition Signaling by Visual Cues in Female Marmosets (Callithrix jacchus).

New World monkeys have polymorphic color vision, in which all males and some females are dichromats, while most females are trichromats. There is little consensus about which selective pressures fashioned primate color vision, although detection of food, mates and predators has been hypothesized. Behavioral evidence shows that males from different species of Neotropical primates seem to perceive the timing of female conception and gestation, although, no signals fulfilling this function have been identified. Therefore, we used visual models to test the hypothesis that female marmosets show chromatic and/or achromatic cues that may indicate the time of parturition for male and female conspecifics. By recording the reflectance spectra of female marmosets' (Callithrix jacchus) sexual skin, and running chromatic and achromatic discrimination models, we found that both variables fluctuate during the weeks that precede and succeed parturition, forming "U" and inverted "U" patterns for chromatic and achromatic contrast, respectively. We suggest that variation in skin chroma and luminance might be used by female helpers and dominant females to identify the timing of birth, while achromatic variations may be used as clues by potential fathers to identify pregnancy stage in females and prepare for paternal burdens as well as to detect oestrus in the early post-partum period.

Different types of physical activity on inflammatory biomarkers in women with or without metabolic disorders: a systematic review.

Overwhelming data support the relationship between physical inactivity and inflammatory processes underlying metabolic disorders. The aim of this review was to assess critically the body of evidence for the relationships between exercise protocols and levels of inflammatory biomarkers in women. Systematic literature searches using PubMed Medline, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, LILACS, and SciELO of publications from 1993 to January 2012 were conducted using the following keywords: inflammation, cytokine, exercise, physical training, aerobic training, cardiovascular training, strength training, resistance training, interval training, cardiac rehabilitation, and therapeutic lifestyle modification/management. Three studies reported no significant changes in inflammatory status, one documented an increase in inflammatory biomarkers, and 12 articles reported decreased inflammatory biomarkers associated with exercise. Secondary lifestyle characteristics, such as strenuous physical labor or smoking, were correlated with levels of inflammatory biomarkers. Integrative interventions, including diet, moderate aerobic (60% to 80% of maximum heart rate, or 50% to 60% of VO2max) and circuit resistance training (8 to 10 exercises, 8 to 12 repetitions), health education, and counseling, used together, appeared to be effective strategies to improve inflammatory biomarkers in women.

The influence of sex and relatedness on stress response in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus).

Research in stress physiology has demonstrated the benefits of receiving social support during stressful conditions. However, recent data have shown that the efficacy of social support in buffering physiological and behavioral responses to stressor agents depends on species, sex, and relatedness among animals. This study investigated whether different kinds of social support (presence of same sex related or nonrelated conspecifics) have the same effect on hormonal (fecal cortisol levels) and behavioral responses (agonistic: scent-marking and individual piloerection; anxiety: locomotion; tension-reducing: autogrooming, allogrooming, and body contact). We used adult male and female isosexual dyads of Callithrix jacchus, a small Neotropical primate from the Callitrichidae family, widely used in the study of stress and related diseases. Following a 28-day baseline phase, dyads faced three challenging situations (phase 1: dyads were moved together from the baseline cage to a similar new cage; phase 2: each dyad member was moved alone to a new cage; and phase 3: dyad members were reunited in the same baseline cage). Type of social support was found to influence the response to stressors differently for each sex. Related male dyads did not change their hormonal or behavioral profile over the three experimental phases, when compared to the baseline phase. For nonrelated male dyads, social support buffered hormonal but not behavioral response. For females, the social support offered by a related and nonrelated animal, does not seem to buffer the stress response, as shown by correlations between agonistic behaviors versus cortisol and locomotion during all three experimental phases and a significant increase in fecal cortisol levels during phases 2 and 3, when compared with baseline levels. The results only partially support the buffering model theory and corroborate other studies reporting that the benefits of social support during a period of crisis arise only when it is adaptive for that species.

[The meaning of health in sexual relations according to women treated under the Unified National Health System in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil]. / Os significados de saúde na relação sexual para mulheres assistidas pelo SUS na cidade de Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil.

The aim of this article is to discuss the social representations of "health in sexual relations" as reported by women treated under the Unified National Health System (SUS) in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. A total of 150 women were tested using the free word recall test, with "health in sexual relations" as the stimulus. Women were also asked about their sources of information on the subject. The results were obtained with content analysis and the EVOC software. We identified three representational dimensions: prevention, relationship with the partner, and quality of life. The central nucleus of social representation consisted of the elements "prevention" and "condoms". Likely sources for representation were television, health services, and dialogue with family members and partners. Representations were composed of concepts related to prevention, a good partner relationship, and overall well-being. The results illustrate the need to expand women's sexual health aspects that are considered relevant by the health system.

Possible organizational effect of sex steroids on the stabilization of manual preference in female common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus).

Handedness has been widely studied in nonhuman primates. However, few studies investigate this behavior throughout ontogenetic development. To determine the influence of developmental stage in common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) females, we used six animals, which were observed in food-reaching tests involving hand-use preference from the infantile to the adult phase. During this period, fecal samples were collected for sexual hormone analysis (estrogen and progesterone). The results point to correlations between age and stabilization of manual preference across the developmental phases. A relationship between progesterone and the intensity of hand use asymmetry was observed during the pubertal period, when the data was grouped into three phases: prepubertal, pubertal, and postpubertal. These data show increasing strength of hand preference during ontogenetic development and that sexual hormones may be involved in females.

New developmental stages for common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) using mass and age variables obtained by K-means algorithm and self-organizing maps (SOM).

This study proposes new developmental stages for Callithrix jacchus, using K-Means algorithm and an artificial neural network-self-organising maps (SOM) as computational tools, based on weight and age. Eight developmental stages are proposed: Infant I, II and III, Juvenile I and II, Sub adult, Young adult and Older adult. This classification is consistent with the first appearance of several behavioural and physiological characteristics and thus may have generality in defining critical developmental periods. It also reveals differences in male and female development and establishes a stage for the onset of the final adult life cycle. This classification is also important to understanding the biology of the ontogenetic development of common marmosets, providing new insights for the management and care of captive animals and improving age estimate indicators when specimens are captured in long term monitoring of free ranging groups.

Common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) as a potential animal model for studying psychological disorders associated with high and low responsiveness of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

Social non-human primates are potential animal models for studying changes in social dynamics because they build strong emotional bonds inside the group, much as do humans. The common marmoset, a small neotropical primate, is a suitable model because of its low maintenance cost and high reproductive output in captivity associated with the presence of affiliative relationships among the members of the social group and pair bond formation. The paradigm of involuntary separation is frequently used to study the physiological repercussions of social deprivation. In this review we point out the advantages of using social non-human primates as animal models for studying psychological disorders. We focused on New World primates, adding some original findings for common marmosets. Forty-eight adult individuals (24 females) were monitored over 25 days in two situations: baseline phase and separation phase. Variability in basal cortisol levels was recorded for both males and females, and three types of cortisol profile were drawn for the subjects in this population: high, medium and low. Basal cortisol levels were a predictor of hormonal reactivity to social separation. The animals with low and high cortisol levels were hyper- and hyporeactive to separation, respectively. Significant positive correlations between hormonal reactivity and scent-marking behavior were found for low profile males and females. These findings show that common marmosets display behavioral changes during challenging situations and different cortisol profiles within a population. Thus, this species appears to be a suitable animal model for studying mental disorders associated with high and low responsiveness of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

Changes in peak expiratory flow and respiratory strength during the menstrual cycle.

This study evaluated the spirometry and respiratory static pressures in 17 young women, twice a week for three successive ovulatory menstrual cycles to determine if such variables changed across the menstrual, follicular, periovulatory, early-to-mid luteal and late luteal phases. The factors phases of menstrual cycle and individual cycles had no significant effect on the spirometry variables except for peak expiratory flow (PEF) and respiratory static pressures. Significant weak positive correlations were found between the progesterone:estradiol ratio and PEF and between estrogen and tidal volume (r = 0.37), inspiratory time (r = 0.22), expiratory time (r = 0.19), maximal inspiratory pressure (r = 0.25) and maximal expiratory pressure (r = 0.20) and for progesterone and maximal inspiratory pressure (r = 0.32) during the early-to-mid luteal phase. Although most parameters of the spirometry results did not change during the menstrual cycle, the correlations observed between sexual hormones and respiratory control variables suggest a positive influence of sexual female hormones controlling the thoracic pump muscles in the luteal phase.