Subscribe
The latest psychology and neuroscience discoveries.
My Account
  • Mental Health
  • Social Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Psychopharmacology
  • Neuroscience
  • About
No Result
View All Result
PsyPost
PsyPost
No Result
View All Result
Home Exclusive Cognitive Science

Women’s cognitive abilities remain stable across menstrual cycle

by Mane Kara-Yakoubian
April 18, 2025
in Cognitive Science
[Adobe Stock]

[Adobe Stock]

Share on TwitterShare on Facebook
Don't miss out! Follow PsyPost on Bluesky!

A new meta-analysis published in PLOS One finds no robust evidence that women’s cognitive abilities vary across different phases of the menstrual cycle.

Throughout history, popular narratives have often portrayed menstruation as a condition that impairs thinking and decision-making. This perception has made its way into public discourse, ranging from newspaper editorials to political commentary. Meanwhile, some brain imaging studies and reports of subjective experiences have suggested possible cognitive shifts throughout the cycle, contributing to a conflicting scientific narrative.

To address this question, Daisung Jang and colleagues conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis with the goal of resolving inconsistent findings.

The authors conducted a broad search of psychological and biomedical databases (e.g., PsycInfo, PubMed) for research on menstrual cycle effects on cognitive performance, retrieving 102 articles that met their inclusion criteria. The final meta-analysis included 3,943 participants and 730 comparisons. All included studies assessed women’s cognitive performance across at least two clearly defined phases of the menstrual cycle.

Cognitive domains evaluated included attention, creativity, executive functioning, intelligence, memory, motor function, spatial ability, and verbal ability, with tasks requiring objectively correct answers. Both speed and accuracy measures were analyzed separately where data permitted.

Menstrual cycle phases were standardized across studies using a five-phase model: menstrual, follicular, periovulatory, luteal, and premenstrual. When needed, phase definitions from original studies were reclassified to fit this model. The researchers applied Hedges’ g to estimate effect sizes and corrected for methodological inconsistencies, including test-retest reliability. Additional robustness checks were performed by focusing on studies with hormone-confirmed cycle phases and those with 80% phase definition overlap. Studies of oral contraceptive users were also analyzed separately to serve as a comparison group.

Across the entire dataset, no significant or consistent differences were found in attention, creativity, executive function, intelligence, or motor performance across the menstrual cycle. Even in domains where prior findings hinted at possible changes—such as memory, spatial ability, and verbal performance—any observed effects were small, inconsistent, and not robust to correction for multiple comparisons or to analyses restricted to high-quality studies.

For example, an initial advantage in spatial accuracy during ovulation relative to the follicular phase was found in the full sample, but this effect disappeared in hormone-confirmed studies.

Speed and accuracy, which were analyzed separately, also showed no reliable trends across cycle phases. While individual studies occasionally reported differences, these did not replicate consistently across high-quality or large-sample studies. Heterogeneity in results was often traced back to poor methodological practices, such as self-reported cycle tracking or loosely defined phase boundaries.

Publication bias was also ruled out, suggesting that the absence of findings was not due to selective reporting.

A limitation is that many studies had small sample sizes and relied on self-reported menstrual tracking rather than hormonal assays. Although robustness checks excluded these studies, the field would benefit from more large-scale, rigorously controlled research.

This meta-analysis provides evidence that women’s cognitive abilities remain stable throughout the menstrual cycle, helping to dispel long-standing myths about hormonal effects on female cognition.

The study, “Menstrual cycle effects on cognitive performance: A meta-analysis,” was authored by Daisung Jang, Jack Zhang, and Hillary Anger Elfenbein.

TweetSendScanShareSendPinShareShareShareShareShare

RELATED

Surprisingly widespread brain activity supports economic decision-making, new study finds
Cognitive Science

Surprisingly widespread brain activity supports economic decision-making, new study finds

May 19, 2025

A new study using direct brain recordings reveals that human economic decision-making is not localized to a single brain region. Instead, multiple areas work together, with high-frequency activity encoding risk, reward probability, and the final choice itself.

Read moreDetails
Scientists use brain activity to predict StarCraft II skill in fascinating new neuroscience research
Cognitive Science

Scientists use brain activity to predict StarCraft II skill in fascinating new neuroscience research

May 16, 2025

A study combining brain scans and gameplay data reveals that players with more efficient visual attention and stronger white matter connections excel at StarCraft II. The results highlight how neural traits shape success in cognitively demanding video games.

Read moreDetails
Neuroscientists discover music’s hidden power to reshape memory
Memory

Neuroscientists discover music’s hidden power to reshape memory

May 14, 2025

A new neuroimaging study reveals that listening to emotionally charged music during memory recall can change how we remember events. The music not only shaped what participants remembered but also altered the emotional tone of their memories one day later.

Read moreDetails
Study links anomalous experiences to subconscious connectedness and other psychological traits
Cognitive Science

Study links anomalous experiences to subconscious connectedness and other psychological traits

May 13, 2025

A new study suggests that unusual experiences like déjà vu or premonitions are not only common but linked to a distinct psychological trait called subconscious connectedness. Researchers found that people high in this trait reported significantly more anomalous experiences.

Read moreDetails
Eye-tracking study suggests that negative comments on social media are more attention-grabbing than positive comments
Cognitive Science

Can you train your brain to unsee optical illusions? Scientists think so

May 12, 2025

A recent study found that radiologists are less susceptible to optical illusions, likely due to their intensive visual training. The research challenges long-standing beliefs that illusions are automatic and suggests perceptual skills can be shaped over time.

Read moreDetails
Diets high in fat and sugar appear to harm cognitive function
Cognitive Science

Diets high in fat and sugar appear to harm cognitive function

May 10, 2025

Consuming a Western-style diet packed with sugar and saturated fats may hurt your brain, not just your waistline. A new study shows poorer performance on spatial memory tasks among people with diets high in processed, unhealthy foods.

Read moreDetails
People with lower cognitive ability more likely to fall for pseudo-profound bullshit
Cognitive Science

People with lower cognitive ability more likely to fall for pseudo-profound bullshit

May 9, 2025

A new meta-analysis published in Applied Cognitive Psychology finds that people with lower cognitive ability are more likely to find meaning in pseudo-profound nonsense. The study identifies key psychological traits linked to susceptibility to feel-good but meaningless statements.

Read moreDetails
Neuroscientists uncover a fascinating fact about social thinking in the brain
Cognitive Science

Neuroscientists uncover a fascinating fact about social thinking in the brain

May 7, 2025

Our brains process social similarity in two ways—by comparing people to each other and by comparing them to ourselves. A new study using brain imaging reveals that these forms of person knowledge are represented in separate areas of the brain.

Read moreDetails

SUBSCRIBE

Go Ad-Free! Click here to subscribe to PsyPost and support independent science journalism!

STAY CONNECTED

LATEST

Surprisingly widespread brain activity supports economic decision-making, new study finds

Scientists finds altered attention-related brain connectivity in youth with anxiety

From fixed pulses to smart stimulation: Parkinson’s treatment takes a leap forward

New research challenges idea that female breasts are sexualized due to modesty norms

Mother’s childhood trauma linked to emotional and behavioral issues in her children, study finds

New study sheds light on which post-psychedelic difficulties last longest and what helps people cope

Young adults who drink heavily report more romantic highs and lows

Amphetamine scrambles the brain’s sense of time by degrading prefrontal neuron coordination

         
       
  • Contact us
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms and Conditions
[Do not sell my information]

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Cognitive Science Research
  • Mental Health Research
  • Social Psychology Research
  • Drug Research
  • Relationship Research
  • About PsyPost
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy