---
title: Does mental and physical performance get worse during the menstrual cycle?
description: No, most aspects of thinking and physical performance did not get worse during the menstrual or premenstrual phases. Women did report feeling more alert befor
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/performance-and-state-changes-during-the-menstrual-cycle-conceptualised-within-a-1991/
---

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- Does mental and physical performance get worse during the menstrual cycle?

Survey study, 1991

# Does mental and physical performance get worse during the menstrual cycle?

No, most aspects of thinking and physical performance did not get worse during the menstrual or premenstrual phases. Women did report feeling more alert before their period and performed slightly better on one word-matching task premenstrually.

 Early or limited evidence

10 women, tested across one menstrual cycle

## What they did

10 women were tested six times during one menstrual cycle. Testing included heart rate, self-reported alertness, skin conductance, and performance tests for cognitive processing, tracking, reaction time, attention, dual tasks, speed and accuracy, and short-term memory.

## What they found

Self-reported arousal increased premenstrually. Performance on semantic processing (a word-matching task) improved premenstrually. There was no significant relationship between mood changes and performance changes. Cognitive processing, tracking, reaction time, vigilance, dual task, speed and accuracy, and short-term memory showed no significant decline during menstrual or premenstrual phases. High individual differences were found between subjects.

## What it means for you

Contrary to common belief, the menstrual and premenstrual phases do not impair performance on most tasks. The slight improvement in one task suggests women may try harder when they feel different. The main limitation is the very small sample size (only 10 women) tested in a single cycle.

10

women studied

6

testing sessions across one cycle

1

significant performance result (word matching)

## About the study

Original title Performance and state changes during the menstrual cycle, conceptualised within a broad band testing framework Authors Ussher JM, Wilding JM Journal Social science & medicine (1982) Year 1991 Study design Survey study Participants 10 What was tested None (observational testing) Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(91)90286-l](https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(91)90286-l)

## Topics

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

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Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

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