Is there anything, scientifically proven, that we really cannot do while on our periods?
There is nothing scientifically proven that we cannot do while on our periods! Actually, some research shows that the menstrual cycle helps those who menstruate have BETTER mental abilities!
While it's often thought that people who are menstruating aren't working at their full capacities, Professor Brigitte Leeners and her team of researchers have found evidence to suggest that that's not the case. They examined three aspects of cognition across two menstrual cycles, and found that the levels of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone in your system have NO impact on your working memory, cognitive bias or ability to pay attention to two things at once. While some hormones were associated with changes across one cycle in some of the participants, these effects didn't repeat in the following cycle. Overall, none of the hormones the team studied had any replicable, consistent effect on study participants' cognition.
It actually turns out that menstruators are more adept at certain skills, such as spatial awareness, after their period. Three weeks after, they are significantly better communicators – and, oddly, particularly good at telling when others are feeling fearful. Finally, for part of their cycles their brains are actually bigger.
