Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Menstruation Doesn't Change How your Brain Works #Science #Health #Feminism

Frankly, we're not sure if this science will be received well by women.  From the standpoint of feminism, it confirms women perform no differently during this period so that's good, right?  From the standpoint of someone who experiences some type of maladies during the period, her understanding of the why of them gets murdered so that's not too good.  It's tough to predict but please do keep in mind the Rockhouse has no more agenda than curiosity.



Levels of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone in one's system have no impact on the working memory, cognitive bias or ability to pay attention to two things at once.

Credit: © Creative-Touch / Fotolia

The image has already stated the general case and you know all the cliche about women during menstruation ... but the science doesn't support any of it.


A new study published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience is setting out to change the way we think about the menstrual cycle. While it's often been assumed that anyone who's menstruating isn't working at top mental pitch, Professor Brigitte Leeners and her team of researchers have found evidence to suggest that that's not the case. They examined three aspects of cognition across two menstrual cycles, and found that the levels of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone in your system have no impact on your working memory, cognitive bias or ability to pay attention to two things at once. While some hormones were associated with changes across one cycle in some of the women taking part, these effects didn't repeat in the following cycle. Overall, none of the hormones the team studied had any replicable, consistent effect on study participants' cognition.

Science Daily:  Menstruation doesn't change how your brain works -- period

As you see, it's not just TV game show medicine.  As to the Standard Silly Man cliche of women being victims of their hormones, that is not revealed to be the case but good luck with the testosterone, Dagwood.


Professor Leeners said, "The hormonal changes related to the menstrual cycle do not show any association with cognitive performance. Although there might be individual exceptions, women's cognitive performance is in general not disturbed by hormonal changes occurring with the menstrual cycle."

Professor Leeners cautions, however, that there's more work to do. While this study represents a meaningful step forward, larger samples, bigger subsamples of women with hormone disorders, and further cognitive tests would provide a fuller picture of the way that the menstrual cycle affects the brain. In the meantime, Professor Leeners hopes her team's work will start the long process of changing minds about menstruation.

- SD

We're not sure how much we can change with this, Herr Doktor, since the brothers and sisters here are sharp and are likely aware women are not helpless victims of hormones.  However, the science did not mention or at least did not specifically mention premenstrual discomfort afflicting many women.

Probably most men with a partiality toward women become aware menstruation isn't such a terrible drag for women except for the obvious but the premenstrual syndrome can be a bitch.  Frankly, the science doesn't clarify that too much for us here in the Rockhouse.  It seems PMS becomes a matter of controversy, at least as to cause.

The question for the Rockhouse is whether the premenstrual period is included within the overall menstrual period or if it's regarded as something else.  The good Doktor advises more research is necessary and it's an appreciated concern since we don't really grok it yet.


It's probably not even a tiny consolation but in tribal times, women were banished to the women's hut during menstruation and weren't permitted to return to the company of men until that time was complete.  There is cultural evolution but it can be painfully damn slow.

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