A recent study by the University College of London (UCL) together with the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health (ISEH) has shown that women have greater mental agility during menstruation. These results refute the study’s hypothesis, as the research team expected the reactions to be slower.
The study has been published in the journal Neuropsychology and its interest lies in what types of cognition fluctuate in the female brain during the menstrual cycle. To do this, they selected 241 participants who had their reaction time and errors made measured in a battery of cognitive tests that were repeated after 14 days. Simultaneously, these women answered questionnaires a couple of times about her mood and her menstrual symptoms.
The paradox was that the participants claimed to feel worse physically and mentally during their period and believed that their performance would not be optimal, but the results showed the opposite: their reaction times were faster and they made fewer mistakes. In fact, it was during the luteal phase, which begins just after ovulation and lasts between 12 and 14 days before the period, when the worst results were recorded.
Dr. Flaminia Ronca, first author of the study from the Division of Surgery and Interventional Sciences at UCL and ISEH, said that “research suggests that female athletes are more likely to suffer certain types of injuries during the luteal phase and it has been assumed that this is due to biomechanical changes as a result of hormonal variation, but I was not convinced that physical changes alone could explain this association.
“Since progesterone has an inhibitory effect on the cerebral cortex and estrogen stimulates it, making us react slower or faster, we wondered if the injuries could be the result of a change in the rhythm of the athletes’ movements along the way.” throughout the cycle. What’s surprising is that the participants performed better when they were on their period, challenging what women, and perhaps society in general, assume about their abilities at this particular time of the month. I hope this serves as a basis for positive conversations between coaches and athletes about perceptions and performance: how we feel does not always reflect how we perform”, he continues.
Dr. Megan Lowery, author of the study, explains that “there is a lot of anecdotal evidence from women that they could feeling clumsy right before ovulation, for example, which is supported by our findings here. The hope is that if women understand how their brains and bodies change during the month, it will help them adapt. Although much more research is needed in this area, these findings are an important first step toward understanding how women’s cognition affects their athletic performance at different points during their cycle, which we hope will facilitate positive conversations between coaches and athletes about the performance and well-being.”
