Category learning across the menstrual cycle: Learning exceptions to the rule varies by hormonal milieu
Abstract
Ways in which ovarian hormones affect cognition have been long overlooked in psychology and neuroscience research despite strong evidence of their effects on the brain. In order to address this gap, we study performance on a rule-plus-exception category learning task, a complex task that requires careful coordination of core cognitive mechanisms, across the menstrual cycle. Results show that the menstrual cycle distinctly affects learning of exceptions in a manner that matches the typical estradiol cycle. Furthermore, participants in their high estradiol phase outperform participants in their low estradiol phase, and show steeper learning slopes than men in exception-learning. These results provide novel evidence of the role of estradiol in category learning, underscore the importance of recruiting diverse samples in cognitive neuroscience research, and highlight the ways in which cognition varies throughout the fundamental biological cycles of the human experience.