(Credit: agsandrew/Shutterstock) Menstruating women experience no changes in cognition, according to a new study from Swiss and German researchers. It's a pervasive stereotype: cognitive performance is different when women are on their periods. It's an idea that has implications for women's professional lives, extending even to the last presidential election. However, there isn't reliable scientific research backing this ill-informed belief up, and what little exists is underwhelming and inconsistent. To explore this notion deeper, European researchers studied 88 women during their menstrual cycle, and followed up with 68 of them for a second cycle, to determine how their performance on a range of mental exercises was affected.
Those who believe cognitive performance is affected by the menstrual cycle claim fluctuations in hormone levels at different times in the menstrual cycle favor certain types of cognition. As the theory goes, "male" forms of cognition, such as visuospatial awareness, were better when ...
