Effects Of Physiological Cycle On Female Self - Modification Behavior And Brain Mechanism

Women’s ornamental behaviors stand for the whole behaviors which women use cosmestics, accessory, dressing to elevate one’ s attractive ability. Recently, many researchers indicate that women’s ornamental behaviors is more than a social behavior, but has more connection with women’s ovarian hormone (especiallyestrogenand progesterone). As we all know, compared with men, women have regular menstrual cycle because of estrogen and progesterone. The menstrual cycle is not only the basic of human’s reproduction, but also influencing women’s biology, behaviors and cognition to some extent.In view of these assumes, the first aim of current research was using the visual cuing task to explore the relationship between the fertility phase and women’s ornamental behaviors more rigorously by testing the effect of two menstrual phases (ovulatory vs. luteal) on the lower order cognitive process of attention. The second aim is using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) technology to reveal the neural mechanisms of the relationship between the fertility phase and women’s ornamental behaviors.The major findings of these 2 experiments are:(1) Women’s menstrual cycle could influence women’s ornamental behaviors. Specifically, when in the high-fertility phase (near ovulation), women paid greater attention to pictures of ornamental objects than to pictures of non-ornamental objects; (2) Women’s different fertility phase had specificity neural mechanisms:compared to ovulatory phase, women had more activity in subcortex, limbic system in luteal phase; (3) Insula and anterior cingulate cortex might have particular regulated function between women’s menstrual cycle and women’s ornamental behaviors.