Does menstruation modify our intellectual abilities? Abdominal pain, mood swings or pain in the breasts are some of the usual symptoms of the period but, however, contrary to popular belief, it does not produce any ‘haze’ in our intellectual abilities, according to the latest study carried out by researchers at the University of Zurich (Switzerland) and collected in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.
Thus, the hormonal changes that occur with menstruation (the rise and fall of three key hormones, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone) have no impact on cognitive function (good news for women of reproductive age).
The variation in hormone levels throughout the menstrual cycle also has other effects, such as changes in mood or abdominal pain, but does the inevitable monthly cycle affect cognitive function? Many women believe so.
“Interpretation of observational studies on associations between prefrontal cognitive functioning and hormone levels throughout the female menstrual cycle is difficult due to small sample sizes and poor replicability, ” the authors note. Hence, some confusion has been generated in this regard.
To clarify this issue, the experts set out to obtain more reliable data on whether or not menstruation affects cognitive functioning. Therefore, 88 women of reproductive age with regular menstrual cycles participated. At four different stages during a menstrual cycle, the participants underwent tests to measure changes in three cognitive functions: attention, cognitive bias, and working memory. Hormonal levels were also monitored.
The data revealed that changes in estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone levels appeared to affect cognitive bias and attention. However, this finding could not be replicated. Re-analyzing 68 women during a second menstrual cycle, they found no evidence that hormonal changes affected attention, cognitive bias, or working memory . Based on these results, the researchers believe that menstruation is unlikely to affect a woman’s brain power.
“Although there may be individual exceptions, the cognitive performance of women in general is not affected by the hormonal changes that occur with the menstrual cycle,” says Brigitte Leeners, leader of the work.
Reference: Brigitte Leeners et al, Lack of Associations between Female Hormone Levels and Visuospatial Working Memory, Divided Attention and Cognitive Bias across Two Consecutive Menstrual Cycles, Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience (2017). DOI: 10.3389 / fnbeh.2017.00120
