Fig. 2.

Cortisol levels increase in response to cold pressor stress during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. Cortisol levels during the stress and control sessions in women during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. A significant stress session × sample time point interaction is indicated by the top line. Significant pairwise differences between Baseline and 15m-post-stress during the stress session, 15m-post-stress and 42m-post-stress during the stress session, Baseline and 42m-post-stress during the control session, and between the control and stress sessions for the 15m-post-stress onset sample time point, are also indicated. ***: p < .001, **: p < .01, *: p < .05.