How do menstrual cycle and emotional expressions affect attentional and memory biases?

Doğan, Dilara

While sex differences and menstrual cycle effects in emotional processing and memory are well-documented, findings remain inconsistent. The present study aimed to investigate how emotional facial expressions influence attention and memory, and whether these effects vary across menstrual phases and between sexes. A total of 184 participants (Mage = 20.67, SD = 2.18) were tested, including men and women in five menstrual phases: early follicular (n = 30), late follicular (n = 30), ovulatory (n = 28), early luteal (n = 35), and late luteal (n = 28). Emotional attention was assessed using a flicker change detection task, and recognition memory was measured with a surprise yes/no recognition memory task. Results revealed a robust happiness superiority effect in the flicker task: Changes involving happy faces were detected faster and more accurately than those with angry, sad, or fearful expressions, regardless of sex or menstrual phase. Notably, in the recognition memory task, sad faces were remembered with the highest sensitivity, and participants displayed a more liberal response bias for angry faces. The bias varied by menstrual phase, with women in the luteal phase showing a greater tendency to falsely recognize angry faces compared to other groups. These findings suggest that whi...