Female athletes have faster reaction times on day they ovulate, study finds

October 9, 2025

Female athletes have reaction times 80 milliseconds faster and make fewer mistakes on the day they ovulate, according to research.

Researchers at University College London (UCL) studied how different stages of the menstrual cycle and levels of activity affected women’s brain function. They tracked 54 women aged 18 to 40 not using hormone-based contraception and grouped them according to how much exercise they took: inactive (reported not taking part in any form of structured exercise), recreationally active (taking part in at least two hours of structured exercise a week), competing in any sport at club level, and elite (competing in any sport at national or international level).

The study, published in Sports Medicine – Open, found that women perform best on cognitive tests when they ovulate, with on average participants reacting about 30 milliseconds faster compared with later in their cycle and making fewer mistakes. But for elite athletes, the difference in performance was much more pronounced. On average, their attention and inhibition scores were more than 120 milliseconds faster, and their simple reaction time was 80 milliseconds faster at ovulation than the luteal phase of their cycle. The Guardian