---
title: Do women with PMS have memory or attention problems? | Niyora
description: Women with PMS showed difficulty retrieving information from memory compared to controls, independent of which phase of the cycle they were tested in. The eff
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/menstrual-phase-independent-retrieval-deficit-in-women-with-pms-1995/
---

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- Do women with PMS have memory or attention problems?

Non-randomised trial, 1995

# Do women with PMS have memory or attention problems?

Women with PMS showed difficulty retrieving information from memory compared to controls, independent of which phase of the cycle they were tested in. The effect was mild and the sample was small.

 Moderate study design

19 women with prospectively documented premenstrual syndrome and 17 control women

## What they did

Non-randomized study of 19 women with prospectively documented PMS and 17 control women. Both groups had memory and attention testing during late luteal and follicular phases. Hormone levels and mood were measured on testing days for 23 of the women.

## What they found

Women with PMS showed significant differences on recall tests (retrieving learned information) but not on recognition tests (identifying previously seen information). No differences were found in nonverbal memory, attention, or other thinking measures. The memory problem did not depend on which cycle phase testing occurred.

## What it means for you

Women with PMS may have mild difficulty retrieving learned information from memory, while learning and recognizing new information appears intact. The effect is independent of cycle phase. The sample is small and the clinical importance is unclear.

19

women with PMS

17

control women

## About the study

Original title Menstrual phase-independent retrieval deficit in women with PMS Authors Keenan PA, Lindamer LA, Jong SK Journal Biological psychiatry Year 1995 Study design Non-randomised trial Participants 23 What was tested None - memory testing study Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/0006-3223(94)00303-k](https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3223(94)00303-k)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Cognition, concentration and memory](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-cognition/)

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