1. The Menstrual Cycle and differences in …
Sexual attraction
Mood (including PMS)
Cognition
Sensation and Perception
and…
lapdancing!

2. Which of the two faces do you find more attractive?
Left
Right

3. Which of the two faces do you find more attractive?
Left
Right

4. The Menstrual Cycle & Sexual attraction
Women preferred males with more feminized faces.
BUT…
Penton-Voak et al. Menstrual cycle alters face preference Nature 399, (24 June 1999)
CRITICAL THINKING ALERT!!

5. Preference for Feminized Faces Cycle Phase
50% masculinized
Preference for Feminized Faces
Cycle Phase
Mean % femininzation preferred

6. Preference for Feminized Faces Relationships
Mean % femininzation preferred

7. CRITICAL THINKING ALERT!!

8. CRITICAL THINKING ALERT!!

9. CRITICAL THINKING ALERT!!

15. The Menstrual Cycle & Male Scent Attractiveness
Women preferred scent of more symmetrical men at midcycle
No difference at low fertility risk
Gangestad & Thornhill 1998

16. CRITICAL THINKING ALERT!!

18. Changes in mood during the menstrual cycle
Many, many studies. Most show that mood is highest mid-cycle, lowest perimenstrually.
Classic 1939 psychoanalytic study of “neurotic” women
PMS (perimenstrual syndrome) – social context, retrospective studies, expectations.

19. PMS and reproductive hormones
No physiological abnormalities have been consistently linked with steroid hormone concentrations in women with PMS

20. PMS and reproductive hormones
Preventing luteal phase with mifepristone (progesterone antagonist) did not prevent symptoms (Schmidt et al., 1991)

21. PMS and reproductive hormones
But completely shutting down the cycle with GnRH antagonist did (Brown et al., 1993)

22. PMS and reproductive hormones
PMS may reflect a pathological state induced by chronic fluctuations in hormone concentrations associated with long term menstrual cycles.

23. Do you experience changes in cognition during your cycle?

24. Cognition
When asked on a questionnaire if they have menstruation related cognitive changes – 20% of women say “yes.”
No differences in learning and memory across menstrual cycle in most of the dozens of studies.
Academic performance does not seem to be significantly affected by menstrual cycle phase.