Background: The perimenopausal period is associated with higher risk for various mood disorders. Resting-state EEG (rsEEG) brain oscillatory activity has been associated with various neuropsychological disorders and behaviors but has not been assessed in perimenopausal women.
Aim: This study aimed to evaluate quantitative relationships between psychometric properties and rsEEG rhythms (δ, θ, α, and γ powers) in perimenopausal women. Methods: A cross-sectional correlational descriptive study was conducted to quantitatively analyze the correlations among rsEEG low to high band activity (δ, θ, α, and γ powers) and psychometric properties for 14 perimenopausal women. Participants completed a psychological inventory comprised of a State Anxiety Inventory (SAI), Depression Inventory (DI), Behavioral Inhibition Scale (BIS), and short-form UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale (IS) before EEG recording.
Results: Results showed that impulsivity was positively related to the β power, symmetrical at most channels (frontal, temporal, central, parietal, and occipital regions; p <.05), but did not relate to the δ, θ, α, and γ powers. The brainwave low to high bands, δ, θ, α, β, and γ power, were not associated with DI, SAI, or BIS scores.
Conclusions: This study’s findings suggest that significantly enhanced resting-state beta activity is a trait marker of impulsivity in perimenopausal women. This finding has potential implications for preclinical or clinical evaluation of perimenopausal women.