Many women won’t be surprised by the results of a BBC survey in which more than half of female workers said they’d experienced period pain that affected their ability to do their job.
But while some might report feeling drained of energy and motivation when their period is due, others find they actually perform better at mental and physical tasks at that time of the month.
This is because of variations in the way different women react to hormonal changes in their monthly cycle. While intellectual tasks, such as completing a logic puzzle or doing an IQ test, rely on electrical circuits in the brain, how well the neurons perform is subtly affected by the ‘hormonal soup’ which surrounds them.
The female sex hormones oestrogen and progesterone can alter the brain’s reward system, affecting motivation and how ‘sharp’ you feel, but when this takes place isn’t predictable – some women feel at their best a week after their period, while others do so just before.
Of course, severe pain can affect our mental agility too – another reason it might be a good idea for companies to introduce flexible ‘period leave’.
Dr Daniel Glaser is director of Science Gallery at King’s College London
How periods really affect a woman’s working life
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