Gender and Menstrual Cycle Effects in Human Spatial Cognition

Abstract

This hypothesis was supported by evidence from these experiments that, while each gender performs equally well in a fully furnished virtual reality environment, only the performance of women is adversely affected when furnishings are removed. Hormone replacement therapy in elderly women and menstrual phase in younger women also affect landmark dependence in navigation. When describing a learned virtual reality environment, women report a higher percentage of responses concerning landmark objects, while men produce a higher percentage of responses pertaining to directions and turns. In addition, verbal working memory and perceptual speed fluctuate over the menstrual cycle or with hormone replacement in the elderly, in a manner that may account for women's fluctuating reliance upon a route- or landmark-based strategy.