Verbal and spatial skills, like word memorisation and navigation, remain consistent throughout a person鈥檚 menstrual cycle, suggesting menstruation has little effect on these cognitive functions.
Previous research has suggested that the menstrual cycle may affect cognition due to hormonal fluctuations. For instance, studies have shown critical for spatial processing and memory change in size as the concentration of certain hormones ebbs and flows.
To investigate further, at the University of Salzburg in Austria and her colleagues analysed verbal and spatial skills across the menstrual cycle in dozens of women. Participants were between 18 and 35 years old, had a consistent menstrual cycle between 21 and 35 days in length and didn鈥檛 have any underlying health conditions or use hormonal birth control.
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In one study, the researchers asked 153 participants to complete three cognitive tasks. The first involved listing as many words as possible in certain categories with specific starting letters 鈥� for instance, listing animals beginning with the letter C. Then, they were asked to navigate a virtual environment to locate a target. Finally, they had to assess whether a pair of figures showed the same 3D object in two orientations, or whether they showed two distinct objects.
The participants completed these assessments either during their period, two to three days before ovulation or a week before their next period. These were chosen to reflect the changing levels of the hormones oestradiol and progesterone. The researchers estimated each participant鈥檚 menstrual phase using the date of their last period.
The same tasks were used to assess cognitive function in a separate group of 65 volunteers. In this study, however, every participant performed the tasks three times 鈥� during their period, two to three days before ovulation and a week before their next period. The researchers collected saliva samples at each time point to track hormone levels.
In both studies, the researchers found no significant differences in cognitive performance, suggesting the menstrual cycle has no effect on verbal or spatial skills. The changes in brain region size seen in previous studies may, therefore, be adaptive. 鈥淪o, [the brain] adapts to those changes in hormone levels in order to potentially uphold the same level of [cognitive] performance,鈥� says Pletzer.
However, menstruation could influence cognition differently in people who are especially sensitive to hormonal fluctuations or who have irregular menstrual cycles, says at the University of Toronto. 鈥淭hese findings don鈥檛 mean that these hormones don鈥檛 matter for [cognition],鈥� she says. 鈥淭his just tells us that across a quote unquote normal menstrual cycle, we don鈥檛 see these kinds of effects.鈥�
Neuropsychopharmacology
