Changes in Scores on the Mental Rotations Test during the Menstrual Cycle

“Also, it has been reported that females exhibit better performance on mental rotations during menstruation, which is also the time when the estrogen level is at its lowest (Moody, 1997; Silverman and Phillips, 1994).”

“Additionally, it has been shown that females perform better on the mental rotation task during menstruation (when estrogen was lowest) as opposed to during their luteal phase (when estrogen is highest) [19,32].”

“…magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies show that women in the menses phase (low estradiol) and men have lower cortical activation and better performance during a mental rotation task compared to women in the high estradiol phase (Moody, 1997; Hausmann et al., 2000; Dietrich et al., 2001).”

“Our results are consistent with three observational studies which indicate that OC users do not differ from naturally cycling women on mental rotations performance across the cycle (Silverman and Phillips, 1993; Moody, 1997; McFadden, 2000).”

“In women, the low physiological level of ovarian hormones during menses are associated with improved performance on spatial rotation tasks compared to women during the midluteal phase or the preovulatory surge (243,256,400,438,492,554).”

“pre-ovulatory and mid-luteal phases (Hampson, 1990a, 1990b; Hampson & Kimura, 1988; Moody, 1997; Postma et al., 1999; Silverman & Phillips, 1993); others have shown the reverse (Chiarello, McMahon, & Schaefer, 1989; Halpern & Tan, 2001).”

“…hormonally to high estrogen and progesterone levels, and higher scores during menses (the menstruation phase) corresponding to low estrogen and progesterone levels (Hampson, 1990; Maki et al., 2002; Moody, 1997; Philips and Silverman, 1997; Schöning et al., 2007; Silverman and Phillips, 1993).”

“It has been found that high oestrogen levels during the luteal phase are associated with poorer performance in tests of spatial ability (Hampson, 1990; Moody, 1997; Phillips & Silverman, 1997; McCormick & Teillon, 2001).”

“…are lowest, than during the midluteal or periovulatory phases of the cycle when estradiol levels are high (e.g., Hausmann et al., 2000; Maki et al., 2002; Mäntylä, 2013; McCormick and Teillon, 2001; Moody, 1997; Phillips and Silverman, 1997; Silverman and Phillips, 1993; Šimić and Santini, 2012).”

“…(Linn & Peterson, 1985 ; Roberts & Bell, 2003 ; Burton et al. 2005), even though all women had been tested during menstruation, when oestrogen is low and spatial performance is best (Silverman & Phillips, 1993 ; Moody, 1997 ; Epting &Overman, 1998 ;Maki et al. 2002 ; Driscoll et al. 2005).”

“(+) 3-D mental rotation test of Vanderber g & Kuse (1978) -------------------------Silverman & Phillips [81] (study two, repeated measures; n = 23 women tested twice) (+) 3-D mental rotation test of Vanderber g & Kuse (1978) -------------------------Moody [82] (repeated measures; n = 34 women tested twice) (+) 3-D men…”

“Specifically, menstruating females committed more errors than males when they tested during their predicted late follicular or luteal phases but not when they tested in the menstrual or follicular phases, which is consistent with previous findings (McCormick and Teillon, 2000; Moody, 1997).”

“Moody MS.”

“…women performed better during the low-estrogen phase of the menstrual cycle (i.e., the menstrual period) than during the high-estrogen preovulatory and midluteal phases (Hampson, 1990a, b; Hampson & Kimura, 1988; Moody, 1997; Postma et al., 1999; Silverman & Phillips, 1993) in spatial tasks.”

“These effects are often termed activational effects, because fluctuating levels of sex hormones can activate prenatally defined behavioral or cognitive patterns (Kimura & Hampson, 1994; Moody, 1997; O’Connor, Archer, Hair, & Wu, 2001; Silverman & Phillips, 1993).”

“Consistent with Moody (33) and Silverman and Phillips (34), all participants in our ON-OFF study used OCs containing 1 or 2 generation progestins.”

“…comparing OC users (regardless of specific OC formulations) to NC women have reported no significant difference in their 3D MRT performance (Beltz et al., 2015; Griksiene and Ruksenas, 2011; Jensen et al., 2023; Moody, 1997; Mordecai et al., 2008; Rosenberg and Park, 2002; Wharton et al., 2008).”

“56) and from post-intervention to 6-week testing [t(37) = −4.”

“1997 [141] Memory best in mid-luteal phase Maki et al.”