This is Your Brain on Hormones

Jun 19, 2026 · 39 min

About this episode

After reading something that said her menstrual cycle changes her brain each month, Senior Correspondent Molly Webster goes on a reporting mission to see if that’s true, and, if so, how. This journey into sex hormones and the brain involves females and males, and exacting self-experimentation. It gets into PTSD, and ends with a new twist on self-care (hint: it’s biological). And, it starts to reveal a sneaky truth: that each one of us is at the mercy of a crashing sea of chemicals inside of us – those things we call hormones. Special thanks to Emily Jacobs, <a href="https://www.pennlinc.io/team/laura-pritschet" rel="noopener noreferrer">Laura Pritschet</a>, Pavel Shapturenka, and Dr. Catherine Woolley. EPISODE CREDITS: Hosted by - Molly Webster Reported by - Molly Webster Produced by - Mona Madgavkar with help from - Molly Webster Fact-checking by - Diane A. Kelly EPISODE CITATIONS: Articles - **The experiments we feature in this episode are called: 28andMe, 28andOC, and 28andHe, all of which took place at Emily Jacobs lab at the University of California, Santa Barbara.** <ul> <li><a href="https://jacobs.psych.ucsb.edu/research/28-and-me" rel="noopener noreferrer">The 28 Project</a> (https://zpr.io/CSx6MnwZjRvp), background from the Jacobs lab</li> </ul> For more on how much variability there is between female and male animals, check out this “groundbreaking” study, referenced by Emily Jacobs in our episode <ul> <li><a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3008499/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sex Bias in Neuroscience and Biomedical Research</a>(<a href="https://zpr.io/ZRgKZzdNejUA" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://zpr.io/ZRgKZzdNejUA</a>), by Beery AK, Zucker I., Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2011</li> </ul> Dr. Catherine Woolley has revolutionized the field of neuroscience and sex hormones, here’s more about her work … <ul> <li><a href="https://www.the-scientist.com/sex-differences-in-the-brain-get-down-to-the-molecular-level-73768" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sex Differences in the Brain Get Down to the Molecular Level Sex</a> (<a href="https://zpr.io/UNCLE9J782N5" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://zpr.io/UNCLE9J782N5</a>), by Stephanie DeMarco, PhD, The <a href="http://scientist.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scientist.com</a></li> <li><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1998.tb02601.x" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hormonal Effects on the Brain</a> (<a href="https://zpr.io/DvNM9EkXdtGG" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://zpr.io/DvNM9EkXdtGG</a>), by Woolley, C.S. and Schwartzkroin, P.A. Epilepsia</li> </ul> Data sets - <ul> <li><a href="http://openneuro.org/datasets/ds002674/versions/1.0.6" rel="noopener noreferrer">28andMe and 28andOC</a> (<a href="https://zpr.io/hbXVNTVp2Q7j" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://zpr.io/hbXVNTVp2Q7j</a>):</li> <li><a href="https://openneuro.org/datasets/ds005115/versions/1.2.0" rel="noopener noreferrer">28andHe</a> (<a href="https://zpr.io/sZXhfMbMwKb7" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://zpr.io/sZXhfMbMwKb7</a>)</li> </ul> Audio - In the episode, we mention Dr. Russ Poldrack and the Midnight Scan Club, as inspo for self-experimentation <ul> <li><a href="https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/the-midnight-scan-club/" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Midnight Scan Club</a> (<a href="https://zpr.io/CLBhNQSxK844" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://zpr.io/CLBhNQSxK844</a>), by Science Friday. </li> </ul> Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. <a href="https://radiolab.org/newsletter" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sign up</a> (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of <a href="http://members.radiolab.org" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Lab</a> (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on <a href="http://instagram.com/radiolab" rel="noopener noreferrer">Instagram</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/radiolab" rel="noopener noreferrer">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://facebook.com/radiolab" rel="noopener noreferrer">Facebook</a> @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing <a href="mailto:radiolab@wnyc.org" rel="noopener noreferrer">radiolab@wnyc.org</a>. Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.