Survey study, 1993
Does the menstrual cycle affect how well women do at computer tasks?
No, computer task performance and thinking ability showed no change across different phases of the menstrual cycle.
What they did
Cross-sectional study measuring how women performed on a computer-based task and reported their symptoms during three menstrual cycle phases: premenstrual, menstrual, and postmenstrual.
What they found
Task performance, cognitive measures based on signal detection theory, and subjective symptom ratings showed no significant differences across the three menstrual cycle phases.
What it means for you
Mental performance on routine computer tasks does not appear to be affected by where someone is in their menstrual cycle. However, the study did not clearly report sample size and methods, making it difficult to assess how reliable these findings are.
3
menstrual cycle phases tested
About the study
- Original title
- Menstrual cycle effects on a VDT-based simulation task: cognitive indices and subjective ratings
- Authors
- Nakatani C, Sato N, Matsui M et al.
- Journal
- Ergonomics
- Year
- 1993
- Study design
- Survey study
- What was tested
- Computer-based task during three different menstrual cycle phases
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1080/00140139308967890
Topics
Related studies
Cohort study, 2023
Are PMS symptoms linked to genetic factors for psychiatric disorders?
Survey study, 2020
What symptoms best predict whether PMDD will seriously affect daily life?
Review, 2015
What do we know about PMS and PMDD and how are they treated?
Review, 2013
What treatments work best for PMDD?
Randomised trial, 1998
Does cognitive therapy help women with PMS?
Survey study, 2026
How does PMS affect test anxiety in nursing students?