--- title: Does the menstrual cycle affect how women think of words? | Niyora description: The menstrual cycle affects the thinking strategies women use to find words, especially in younger women, but does not clearly change how many words they prod url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/cognitive-strategy-in-verbal-fluency-sex-differences-menstrual-cycle-and-2025/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Does the menstrual cycle affect how women think of words? Survey study, 2025 # Does the menstrual cycle affect how women think of words? The menstrual cycle affects the thinking strategies women use to find words, especially in younger women, but does not clearly change how many words they produce. Early or limited evidence 126 healthy adults aged 20-79 years from three studies ## What they did 126 adults aged 20-79 completed word-finding tests where they produced as many words as possible starting with a given letter. Researchers looked at the total words produced and the thinking strategies used (switching between word categories and clustering related words together). They compared results based on sex, menstrual cycle phase, and menopause stage. ## What they found There were no clear differences between men and women or between menopause groups in total words or switching and clustering strategies. Menstrual cycle phase did affect switching and clustering strategies but not total words. Younger women at higher hormone phases showed the strongest link between word production and switching strategy. Postmenopausal women used strategies more like younger women at low hormone phases. ## What it means for you Menstrual hormones shape which thinking strategies women use for word finding, but this does not change how well they actually perform. The study tested only one specific task, so results may not apply to other types of thinking. 126 healthy adults 20-79 years age range ## About the study Original title Cognitive strategy in verbal fluency: sex differences, menstrual cycle, and menopause effects Authors Cowell PE, Wadnerkar Kamble M, Maitreyee R et al. Journal Cognitive processing Year 2025 Study design Survey study What was tested None Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1007/s10339-025-01265-w](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-025-01265-w) Original abstract Cognitive sex differences are shaped by hormone effects on brain development, organisation, structure, function, and ageing. In human speech and language, sex differences and hormone effects are typically studied in the form of performance-based differences (via measures of central tendency) with little attention given to underlying cognitive strategy. This study presents data from 126 healthy adults, aged 20-79 years, from three studies of letter based verbal fluency. Comparisons were conducted based on sex, menstrual cycle phase, and menopause stage to examine total words produced, plus switching and clustering strategy use. The investigation probed differences in performance, underlying cognitive strategies, and correlations between performance and strategy. For performance, there were no statistically significant sex or menopause group differences in total words, number of switches and cluster size. Menstrual cycle differences were significant for switches and cluster size, but not total words. However, there were large effect sizes for correlations between total word performance and strategy measures in some groups; these correlations formed patterns which differed as a function of sex, menstrual cycle phase, and menopausal stage. Words produced were highly correlated with switching in younger women at higher hormone menstrual cycle phases. Correlations between total words and both strategies were moderate and equivalent in older premenopausal and perimenopausal women. Postmenopausal women showed a pattern of higher correlation between total words and cluster size which was observed in younger women at the lower hormone cycle phase, and men. This study illustrates the impact of hormones and sex differences on strategy use in verbal fluency-underscoring the value of comparisons in strategy use between women at different reproductive life stages. Reproduced under CC-BY. ## Topics [Cognition, concentration and memory](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-cognition/)[Perimenopause and menopause](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-perimenopause/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Review, 2011 What are PMS and PMDD, and how common are they? Study, 2025 Do women have different symptom patterns before, during, and after menopause? Review, 2025 Does creatine supplementation help women's health? Review, 2025 How does progesterone affect mood and brain function? Study, 2018 Do irregular periods and menopause affect thinking and memory in women with schizophrenia? Survey study, 2014 Do women who had PMS develop more hot flashes in menopause? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗