Effects of the Menstrual Cycle on Language and Visual Working Memory: A Pilot Study

This study aimed to examine the effects on language and visual working memory of the follicle, luteal, and menstruation phases. The subjects were 12 female students. We added visual information and the assignment of experimental tasks, which requires the faculty of sight, to the previous study; therefore, this study has an index of visual and linguistic working memory. Computer-based tasks formulated by the authors, using the working memory that actively retains the information as the index, were used for experiments of 30 min during the follicle, luteal, and menstruation phases. After completion of the experiment of each phase, blood samples were collected in order to clearly distinguish the three phases of the subjects' menstrual cycle, and the session order was counter-balanced. The results showed that mental workload was higher in the luteal phase and stress was more easily felt. Indefinite complaints were most frequent during the menstruation phase, but task performance was good regardless of the indefinite complaint. It suggested that when the same tasks were performed during three phases, the sympathetic nerve was ascendant.