--- title: Does menstrual cycle phase affect how sleep loss impacts attention? description: Women in the follicular phase had the worst attention during sleep deprivation, especially at night, while women in the luteal phase performed as well as or b url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/increased-vulnerability-to-attentional-failure-during-acute-sleep-deprivation-in-2018/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Does menstrual cycle phase affect how sleep loss impacts attention? Lab study, 2018 # Does menstrual cycle phase affect how sleep loss impacts attention? Women in the follicular phase had the worst attention during sleep deprivation, especially at night, while women in the luteal phase performed as well as or better than men. This suggests women are more vulnerable to attention problems at certain cycle points. Moderate study design 40 women and 84 men aged 18 to 30 years ## What they did Forty women and 84 men aged 18 to 30 years stayed awake for at least 30 hours in a laboratory. Every 2 hours, they took a 10-minute attention test measuring reaction time. Researchers analyzed women in the follicular phase separately from women in the luteal phase. ## What they found Women in the follicular phase showed the worst attention performance, especially at times when people normally sleep. After 24 hours awake, over 60 per cent of their responses were reaction time lapses of more than 500 milliseconds, and over one-third of their responses were longer lapses of at least 3 seconds. Women in the luteal phase performed as well as or better than both follicular-phase women and the men. ## What it means for you Women may be more vulnerable to attention failure from sleep loss during the follicular phase of their cycle, especially at night. This is important for women who work shifts or have irregular sleep. The study only included young adults aged 18 to 30, so it is unclear if findings apply to older women or whether the effect continues throughout reproductive years. 40 women tested 30 hours of wakefulness maintained over 60% follicular-phase women's reaction-time lapses over 500ms at 24 hours awake ## About the study Original title Increased vulnerability to attentional failure during acute sleep deprivation in women depends on menstrual phase Authors Vidafar P, Gooley JJ, Burns AC et al. Journal Sleep Year 2018 Study design Lab study Participants 124 Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsy098](https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsy098) ## Topics [Sleep and insomnia](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-sleep/)[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, 2022 Do athletes' feelings and performance change across the menstrual cycle? Study, 2026 Does the menstrual cycle affect athletic performance, recovery, or sleep despite hormone changes? Survey study, 2025 Do menstrual problems and poor sleep affect mood and thinking in teenage girls? Study, 2025 Do ADHD symptoms get worse in the week before your period? Survey study, 2025 What behavioral symptoms of premenstrual syndrome are most common? Survey study, 2022 Do women with PMDD have different brain function at different cycle phases? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗