Did you know ? If periods are often associated with a painful and restrictive period, they could (also) help us perform.
Menstrual pain, or dysmenorrhea, can be very uncomfortable and puts many women at a disadvantage in their daily lives. However, researchers suggest that there could be “advantages” to having a period: women would be more lively and responsive during this sensitive period.
Better performance during periods
For this study, published in the journal Neuropsychologia, 241 individuals (including 96 men and 47 women who did not have their periods regularly due to their contraception) were recruited.
All took a battery of personalized cognitive tests, two weeks apart.
The collection of certain data, such as reaction times, attention, ability to understand visual information and anticipation of an inadvertent moment/error, was recorded.
Participants were also asked to record their moods and complete a questionnaire regarding their menstrual symptoms.
Result ? While reaction times and accuracy between men and women were similar, those who menstruated regularly performed better during this period of the cycle. In fact, they presented “better overall cognitive scores during menstruation” and committed “fewer errors“. And this, even if the participants declared feeling “less good” during their periods and less efficient.
Exciting results, according to study lead author Dr Flaminia Ronca, from the Division of Surgery and Interventional Sciences at UCL and ISEH.
“What is surprising is that the participants' performance was better when they were menstruating, which calls into question what women, and perhaps society in general, assume about their abilities at this particular time of the month“, she confides before continuing “I hope this will serve as a basis for positive conversations between coaches and athletes about perceptions and performance: how we feel does not always reflect how we perform.”
How to explain this phenomenon ?
For scientists, the answer is simple: estrogen – the hormone that increases during menstruation in women – may be to blame. These would stimulate brain function.
“There is plenty of anecdotal evidence from women that they might feel awkward just before ovulation, for example, which is supported by our findings here. I hope that if women understand how their brains and bodies change over the course of the month, it will help them adapt“, underlines Dr Megan Lowery, author of the study from UCL Surgery and Interventional Science and ISEH.
“Although much more research is needed in this area, these findings represent an important first step toward understanding how women's cognition affects their athletic performance at different points in their cycle, which will hopefully facilitate positive conversations between coaches and athletes around performance and well-being“, notes the doctor, in conclusion.
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