Abstract
Focusing on individual differences in distress and sex steroid hormonal changes, the effects of menstrual cycles on mental task performance were investigated in the present study. Subjects of study comprised 16 females (mean age: 22.69 ± 2.28 years) with normal menstrual cycles. Visuosensory task and self-evaluation distress were tested in 5 different sexual phases: menstruation, mid-follicular, ovulation, mid-luteal and the premenstrual phases. Salivary sampling was taken in 3 of the 5 phases: menstruation, ovulation and the midluteal phase. Distress and a sex steroid hormone (progesterone) were evaluated according to the menstrual distress questionnaire (MDQ) and measurements from salivary samples, respectively. The visuosensory task was composed of a 3-dimensional mental rotation task (MRT) and a mental arithmetic task (MAT). In cases where subjects were categorized according to differences in the premenstrual MDQ score, those with higher scores indicated less correct answers in premenstrual MRT and MAT than those with lower premenstrual MDQ scores. In cases where subjects were categorized according to differences in the progesterone concentration, those with higher hormonal concentrations indicated significantly less correct answers in mid-luteal MRT than those with lower progesterone concentrations. From our present findings, distress and progesterone affected mental task performance in different phases of the menstrual cycle. Furthermore, distress and steroid hormone influenced mental tasks with different contents.
