--- title: Does menstrual cycle phase affect how women look at emotional images? description: During the luteal phase, women's eyes were drawn to important parts of emotional images faster than during the follicular phase. Women in the luteal phase als url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/phase-of-the-menstrual-cycle-affects-engagement-of-attention-with-emotional-2019/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Does menstrual cycle phase affect how women look at emotional images? Lab study, 2019 # Does menstrual cycle phase affect how women look at emotional images? During the luteal phase, women's eyes were drawn to important parts of emotional images faster than during the follicular phase. Women in the luteal phase also looked away from disgusting images sooner, suggesting heightened disgust sensitivity. Early or limited evidence Women tested during early follicular and midluteal phases ## What they did Women were tested during the early follicular phase and midluteal phase. While eye-tracking measured where and how long they looked, participants viewed images showing different types of content: children, threats, disgusting scenes, erotic content, and low- and high-calorie food. ## What they found In the midluteal phase, women's first eye fixation fell on the important part of images more often and more quickly compared to the follicular phase, meaning the key region attracted attention faster. When viewing disgusting images specifically, women in the midluteal phase looked at the key region for a shorter duration before looking away, suggesting heightened sensitivity to disgust during this phase. ## What it means for you The menstrual cycle affects how women's attention is drawn to emotional images and how long they look at them, especially for disgusting content. This could relate to changes in mood and disgust sensitivity across the cycle and might explain why some women feel more sensitive to certain content at certain cycle points. 2 cycle phases tested 6 types of images shown ## About the study Original title Phase of the menstrual cycle affects engagement of attention with emotional images Authors Pilarczyk J, Schwertner E, Wołoszyn K et al. Journal Psychoneuroendocrinology Year 2019 Study design Lab study Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.02.009](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.02.009) Original abstract Changes that occur during the menstrual cycle affect various aspects of behavior, cognition, and emotion. Here, we focused on potential differences between early follicular and midluteal phases in the way women process images of behaviorally relevant content categories: children, threat, disgust, erotic scenes, low- and high-calorie food. Using eye-tracking, we examined women's engagement of attention in the key region of each image in a free-viewing condition. Specifically, we tested how quickly attention was attracted to these regions and for how long it was held there. Participants took part in two experimental sessions, one in the early follicular and one in the midluteal phase. The results showed that in the midluteal phase attention was attracted to the key region earlier than in the early follicular phase: the first fixation more often fell within the key region and there were fewer fixations preceding it. While the effect of the phase in terms of the capture of attention did not depend on the image category, the effect regarding the hold of attention was category-specific, concerning the disgust category only. Specifically, in the midluteal phase the duration of the exploration of the key region between reaching it for the first time and first exiting it was shorter, which might be due to heightened sensitivity to disgusting stimuli in this period. Overall, our results indicate the occurrence of changes in attentional processing of emotional scenes related to the menstrual cycle, which seem to differ depending on the aspect of attention deployment: in the midluteal phase the effect of enhancing orienting was general and concerned any important visual information, whereas the effect of the shortened hold of attention appeared to be limited to specific content. Reproduced under CC-BY-SA. ## Topics [Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Cognition, concentration and memory](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-cognition/) 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 Systematic review, 2026 Do brain wave patterns change across the menstrual cycle? Systematic review, 2026 Can digital tools help diagnose PMDD? Systematic review, 2025 How do cognition and behavior change across the menstrual cycle in people with PMDD? Systematic review, 2025 Does how well women think change throughout their menstrual cycle? Randomised trial, 2025 Does the menstrual cycle phase affect how much alcohol impairs women's memory? Randomised trial, 2024 Does estradiol prevent thinking problems before the period in women with suicidal thoughts? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗