Whole-Brain Dynamics Across the Menstrual Cycle

MATLAB implementation for whole-brain node-metastability (ignition) analysis across menstrual phases in healthy women

This repository supports the research study:

Avila‑Varela, D. S., Hidalgo‑Lopez, E., Dagnino, P. C., Acero‑Pousa, I., del Agua, E., Deco, G., Pletzer, B., & Escrichs, A. (2024).
Whole‑brain dynamics across the menstrual cycle: the role of hormonal fluctuations and age in healthy women.
npj Women's Health, 2, 8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44294-024-00012-4

This study investigates how menstrual cycle phases (early follicular, pre-ovulatory, mid-luteal), hormone levels (estradiol, progesterone), and age impact whole-brain and resting-state network (RSN) node-metastability in a cohort of 60 healthy women.

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Purpose & Scope

• Quantify changes in whole-brain dynamical complexity using node-metastability metrics.
• Examine effects of hormonal fluctuations (estradiol, progesterone) and age via multilevel modelling.
• Characterize dynamics across large-scale RSN: DMN, somatomotor, control, dorsal attention, limbic, salience, subcortical, visual.
• Aid precision neuroscience studies within neuroendocrinology and women’s brain health.

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Repository Structure

• Ignition_SingleSubject.m: Core MATLAB script computing node-metastability (ignition) per subject.

Note: For privacy, no empirical data is included—use your own preprocessed datasets.

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Requirements

• MATLAB R2018a or later
• Preprocessed resting-state fMRI scans (in time series format)
• Hormonal data and age for each subject

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Usage Guide

1. Clone this repository and open it in MATLAB.
2. Run Ignition_SingleSubject.m.

Citation

If you use this code or reproduce the analyses, please cite:

Avila‑Varela, D. S., Hidalgo‑Lopez, E., Dagnino, P. C., Acero‑Pousa, I., del Agua, E., Deco, G., Pletzer, B., & Escrichs, A. (2024).
Whole‑brain dynamics across the menstrual cycle: the role of hormonal fluctuations and age in healthy women.
npj Women’s Health, 2, 8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44294-024-00012-4

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.
© 2024 Anira Escrichs

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Contact

For code usage and questions please contact:
Anira Escrichs
📧 anira.escrichs@upf.edu CNS, Pompeu Fabra University