Study, 2023
Does the menstrual cycle affect how well women learn new information?
Yes, clearly. Women learn exceptions to rules much faster when estradiol (a hormone that rises and falls with the cycle) is high than when it's low, and they learn faster than men do.
What they did
171 women completed a complex learning task where they had to learn category rules and then learn exceptions to those rules. Their performance was tested at different times in their menstrual cycle. Researchers also compared their results to a male comparison group.
What they found
Women in their high estradiol phase (when this hormone is high in the cycle) outperformed women in their low estradiol phase on learning exceptions to the rules. Women in the high estradiol phase also learned exceptions faster than men in the comparison group. The improvement matched the pattern of how estradiol naturally rises and falls across the menstrual cycle.
What it means for you
The menstrual cycle affects learning ability in complex tasks. High estradiol helps learning, probably through effects on the hippocampus (the brain's memory center). Some women notice their learning feels different at different cycle points; this study suggests that's real and hormone-related. The study tested one learning type, so results may not apply to all types. More research is needed.
171
women studied
About the study
- Original title
- Learning exceptions to category rules varies across the menstrual cycle
- Authors
- Perović M, Heffernan EM, Einstein G et al.
- Journal
- Scientific reports
- Year
- 2023
- Study design
- Study
- Participants
- 171
- What was tested
- None - this study observed natural changes in learning ability across the menstrual cycle
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-48628-x
Original abstract
Ways in which ovarian hormones affect cognition have been long overlooked despite strong evidence of their effects on the brain. To address this gap, we study performance on a rule-plus-exception category learning task, a complex task that requires careful coordination of core cognitive mechanisms, across the menstrual cycle (N = 171). Results show that the menstrual cycle distinctly affects exception learning in a manner that parallels the typical rise and fall of estradiol across the cycle. Participants in their high estradiol phase outperform participants in their low estradiol phase and demonstrate more rapid learning of exceptions than a male comparison group. A likely mechanism underlying this effect is estradiol's impact on pattern separation and completion pathways in the hippocampus. These results provide novel evidence for the effects of the menstrual cycle on category learning, and underscore the importance of considering female sex-related variables in cognitive neuroscience research.
Reproduced under CC-BY.
Topics
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