Women are more mentally agile during their periods, study reveals
It is a tired old trope that women on their period are irrational, volatile, and unable to function effectively.
But a study from University College London (UCL) has demolished the myth, suggesting that in fact women have quicker reactions and better mental agility, and make fewer mistakes, during menstruation.
The study, in collaboration with the Institute of Sport, Exercise & Health (ISEH), assessed sport-related cognition during the menstrual cycle as part of a larger research project supported by Fifa.
It found women were 12 per cent more accurate in a moving balls task, and made 25 per cent fewer errors in attention and accuracy tests.
Study challenges assumptions
Dr Flaminia Ronca, first author of the study from UCL Division of Surgery and Interventional Science and ISEH, said: “What is surprising is that the participants’ 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.”
The research was prompted by concerns from female football players and their coaches that injuries were more likely at certain times of the month.
More injuries seem to occur during the luteal phase – the time between ovulation and menstruation – and experts were keen to find out if fluctuating levels of mental agility could be behind the increased risk.
For example, if women were less able to gauge the speed of a ball, or judge a tackle, it may result in an injury that would not normally occur when fully mentally fit.
To find out, researchers collected reaction time and error data from 241 participants who completed a battery of cognitive tests 14 days apart.
Period-tracking apps were used to estimate which phase of their cycle the participants were in when they took the tests.
The tests were designed to mimic mental processes that are typical in team sports. In one test, participants were shown smiling or winking faces and asked to press the spacebar only when they saw a smiley face.
Spatial cognition was assessed using a 3D rotation task, while spatial timing was measured by asking participants to click when two moving balls collide on screen.
Although the women reported feeling worse during menstruation, believing that their performance would be negatively affected, their reaction times were actually faster on their periods and they made fewer errors.
Their timing was on average 10 milliseconds (12 per cent) more accurate in the moving balls task, and they pressed the space bar at the wrong time 25 per cent less in the inhibition task.
Timing crucial to avoiding injury
The authors say the fluctuation in timing could be the difference between an injury or not. Previous research has shown that a variation of just 10 milliseconds can mean the difference between a concussion and a lesser injury, for example.
In contrast, women’s reaction times were slower during the luteal phase, by an average 10-20 milliseconds compared to any other phase, although they did not make more errors.
Dr Megan Lowery, an author of the study, said: “There’s lots of anecdotal evidence from women that they might feel clumsy just before ovulation, for example, which is supported by our findings here.
“My hope is that if women understand how their brains and bodies change during the month, it will help them to adapt.
“Though there’s a lot more research needed in this area, these findings are an important first step towards understanding how women’s cognition affects their athletic performance at different points during their cycle, which will hopefully facilitate positive conversations between coaches and athletes around performance and wellbeing.”
Hormones change considerably during the menstrual cycle, which is known to be related to cognitive functioning.
For example, an increase in progesterone has an inhibitory effect on the cerebral cortex, slowing reaction time, while, in contrast, oestrogen speeds up reactions.
But levels of both oestrogen and progesterone are typically at their lowest during menstruation, suggesting they are not the only reason for the changes.
Professor Paul Burgess, senior author of the study, said: “This study emerged from listening carefully to female soccer players and their coaches.
“We created bespoke cognitive tests to try to mimic the demands made upon the brain at the points in the game where they were telling us that injuries and problems of timing occur at certain times of the menstrual cycle.
“As suggested by what the soccer players had told us, the data suggested that women who menstruate – whether they are athletes or not – do tend to vary in their performance at certain stages of the cycle.
“As a neuroscientist, I am amazed that we don’t already know more about this, and hope that our study will help motivate increasing interest in this vital aspect of sports medicine.”
The research was published in Neuropsychologia, an online journal.
