On the contrary, research has shown that women react more quickly and make less mistakes throughout their menstrual cycle.
Nonetheless, women displayed slower reaction times and worse timing anticipation during the luteal phase, which occurs between ovulation and menstruation, according to research from University College London and the Institute of Sport, Exercise, and Health (ISEH).
Additionally, there were more mistakes observed during ovulation.
The findings are unexpected because women typically report experiencing negative emotions and physical symptoms during their periods.
The researchers reported that “a significant proportion of females felt that their symptoms were negatively affecting their cognitive performance during menstruation on testing day, which was incongruent with their actual performance” in a scientific article published in Neuropsychologia.
In the study, 241 men and women completed online questionnaires and had their symptoms and moods noted.
The tests were designed to imitate mental processes common in team sports, and they were administered twice, separated by 14 days, to measure their reaction rates, attention spans, and capacity to relate to visual information as well as their ability to predict when something would happen.
