Women Think Faster & More Accurately During Their Period

A study of 394 participants found that during menstruation, women were able to think more clearly, reacted faster, and made fewer errors despite reporting that their mood and cognitive abilities felt worse than usual.

“Participants exhibited better overall cognitive scores during menstruation, even though they reported poorer mood and symptoms during this phase, and perceived that their symptoms were negatively affecting their cognitive performance,” the authors wrote. “This incongruence between female participants’ subjective perceptions of their performance and their objective cognitive scores provides a positive outlook on the female menstrual cycle, which could aid in shaping attitudes towards sporting behaviors.”

“In contrast, less optimal performance on cognitive tasks was observed in the late follicular and luteal phases (second part of the menstrual cycle when the uterine lining thickens)…and worse overall performance in the luteal phase,” they added in their study published in the journal Neuropsychologia.

While scientific literature has detailed how women athletes are at a higher risk of musculoskeletal injury during their period due to hormonal changes, very few studies have delved into the change that could take place in their brain function and cognition throughout the menstrual cycle.

To investigate further, lead author Flaminia Ronca from UCL Division of Surgery and Interventional Science and ISEH and colleagues recruited participants based in the United Kingdom who were 18 to 35 years old. Each one of them completed an online questionnaire where they provided information related to how often they practiced running, cycling, rowing, weight lifting, sprinting, or sports like football or rugby.

The participants were also asked to disclose their use of hormonal medicines, menstrual cycle characteristics, and contraception. They then underwent a battery of online cognitive tests. One such test involved pressing the space bar as soon as they saw a winky face on the screen to record their reaction time and ability to sustain attention on the task.

“Given that progesterone has an inhibitory effect on the cerebral cortex and estrogen stimulates it, making us react slower or faster, we wondered if injuries could be a result of a change in athletes’ timing of movements throughout the cycle,” said Ronca in a press release.

“What is surprising is that the participant’s performance was better when they were on their period, which challenges what women, and perhaps society more generally, assume about their abilities at this particular time of the month,” added Ronca. “I hope that this will provide the basis for positive conversations between coaches and athletes about perceptions and performance: how we feel doesn’t always reflect how we perform.”

Interestingly, the researchers found that just before ovulation, women could feel more clumsy than usual. In the press release, another author of the study, Megan Lowery from UCL Surgery & Interventional Science and ISEH highlighted that their findings are an important first step towards understanding how women’s cognition affects their athletic performance at different points during their cycle.

“My hope is that if women understand how their brains and bodies change during the month, it will help them to adapt,” added Lowery.