THE EFFECTS OF MENSTRUATION ON SPATIAL ABILITY

Abstract

There is evidence that the ovarian hormones, estrogen and progesterone, can affect the brain and cognition. Importantly, estrogen and progesterone fluctuate during the menstrual cycle. The aim of this study is to examine whether or not menstruation impacts performance on a virtual spatial navigation task in young women. Spatial memory in women who were menstruating during testing were compared to women who were not menstruating during testing on a novel landmark navigation task. There was no significant difference in women who were actively menstruating and women who were not actively menstruating on performance in the landmark navigation task. The results of this study did not support the hypothesis, reflecting that menstruation does not affect spatial memory performance.