Study, 2010
Do fine motor skills and spatial reasoning change during the menstrual cycle?
Yes. Performance is best during the mid-luteal phase when hormones are highest and worst during menstruation when hormones are lowest.
What they did
20 university students aged 18 to 21 with regular 28-30 day cycles performed two tests during the menstrual, late follicular, and mid-luteal phases. One test measured finger dexterity and the other measured mental rotation (visualizing shapes). Anxiety and perceived task difficulty were measured at each phase.
What they found
Performance on both tests was best during the mid-luteal phase. Anxiety levels and how difficult the tasks felt were highest during the menstrual phase, when hormone levels were lowest.
What it means for you
Fine motor control and mental rotation may be slightly better in the mid-luteal phase. However, this was a very small study of healthy university students with regular cycles. It does not tell us about real-world activities or about women with PMS or PMDD. The changes measured were for specific lab tasks.
20
students studied
28-30 days
menstrual cycle length
18-21 years
age range
About the study
- Original title
- Performance of fine motor and spatial tasks during the menstrual cycle
- Authors
- Simić N, Tokić A, Peričić M
- Journal
- Arhiv za higijenu rada i toksikologiju
- Year
- 2010
- Study design
- Study
- What was tested
- Finger dexterity and mental rotation tests at different cycle phases
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.2478/10004-1254-61-2010-2055
Original abstract
Various studies have shown fluctuations in task performance during the menstrual cycle. The aim of this study was to see the effects of the menstrual cycle on performing fine motor and spatial tasks of different level of complexity in twenty students aged 18 to 21 years, with regular menstrual cycle (28 to 30 days). The students performed O'Connor Finger Dexterity Test and mental rotation test during the menstrual, late follicular, and midluteal phase. Before the tests were performed, we administered Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for each phase. After the tasks were completed, the subjects ranked their difficulty on Borg's scale.The results showed the best performance in both tests in the midluteal phase (with sex hormones at their peak). The anxiety level and task difficulty ranking were the highest in the menstrual phase, when the hormone levels were the lowest.
Reproduced under CC-BY.
Topics
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