Survey study, 1990
Do women's skin responses change during their menstrual cycle?
Yes. Women's skin responded more strongly to sounds during ovulation compared to the luteal and premenstrual phases, but their emotional experience didn't change.
What they did
Studied 62 women at different points in their menstrual cycle. They played 15 sounds to each woman and measured how her skin responded to the sounds and her emotional state.
What they found
Women's skin responded more strongly during ovulation compared to the luteal and premenstrual phases. No changes were found in mood across different cycle phases. Women with high follicle-stimulating hormone levels had lower anxiety and took longer to get used to the repeated sounds.
What it means for you
Women's physical stress response varies during the cycle, but this doesn't affect how they feel emotionally. The main limitation is that this was done in a laboratory with sounds, not in daily life, so we don't know if these changes happen in real situations.
62
women studied
5
menstrual cycle phases
15
sounds presented
About the study
- Original title
- Electrodermal activity, hormonal levels and subjective experience during the menstrual cycle
- Authors
- Gómez-Amor J, Martínez-Selva JM, Román F et al.
- Journal
- Biological psychology
- Year
- 1990
- Study design
- Survey study
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/0301-0511(90)90022-o