Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jan 8:3:2050312114565198.
doi: 10.1177/2050312114565198. eCollection 2015.

Is objective and accurate cognitive assessment across the menstrual cycle possible? A feasibility study

Diane Farrar  1 , Jo Neill  2 , Andy Scally  3 , Derek Tuffnell  4 , Kay Marshall  2
Affiliations

Is objective and accurate cognitive assessment across the menstrual cycle possible? A feasibility study

Diane Farrar et al. SAGE Open Med. .

Abstract

Objectives: Variation in plasma hormone levels influences the neurobiology of brain regions involved in cognition and emotion processing. Fluctuations in hormone levels across the menstrual cycle could therefore alter cognitive performance and wellbeing; reports have provided conflicting results, however. The aim of this study was to assess whether objective assessment of cognitive performance and self-reported wellbeing during the follicular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle is feasible and investigate the possible reasons for variation in effects previously reported.

Methods: The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale were used to assess the cognitive performance and wellbeing of 12 women. Data were analysed by self-reported and hormone-estimated phases of the menstrual cycle.

Results: Recruitment to the study and assessment of cognition and wellbeing was without issue. Plasma hormone and peptide estimation showed substantial individual variation and suggests inaccuracy in self-reported menstrual phase estimation.

Conclusion: Objective assessment of cognitive performance and self-assessed wellbeing across the menstrual cycle is feasible. Grouping data by hormonal profile rather by self-reported phase estimation may influence phase-mediated results. Future studies should use plasma hormone and peptide profiles to estimate cycle phase and group data for analyses.

Keywords: Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery; cognitive performance; hormone and peptide profile; menstrual cycle.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: D.F., J.N., A.S., D.T. and K.M. have no financial or non-financial interests that may be relevant to the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Participant flow through the study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Speroff L, Fritz MA. The endocrinology of pregnancy. In: Speroff L, Fritz MA. (eds) Clinical gynecologic endocrinology and infertility. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005, pp. 269–330.
    1. Sutcliffe JS, Marshall KM, Neill JC. Influence of gender on working and spatial memory in the novel object recognition task in the rat. Behav Brain Res 2007; 177(1): 117–125. - PubMed
    1. Mellon SH. Neurosteroid regulation of central nervous system development. Pharmacol Ther 2007; 116(1): 107–124. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kinsley CH, Trainer R, Stafisso-Sandoz G, et al. Motherhood and the hormones of pregnancy modify concentrations of hippocampal neuronal dendritic spines. Horm Behav 2006; 49(2): 131–142. - PubMed
    1. Garcia-Segura LM, Azcoitia I, DonCarlos LL. Neuroprotection by estradiol. Prog Neurobiol 2001; 63(1): 29–60. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources