Variations in perception of right and left halves of the body during the menstrual cycle

To determine whether cerebral dominance in body perception changes during the menstrual cycle, we have examined the body perceptions of 55 women between 16 and 49 yr. of age. The women were placed in one of 4 groups (menstrual, follicular, luteal, premenstrual). The maximum dominance in body perceptions appeared in the follicular group and tended to disappear for luteal and premenstrual groups. A positive, statistically significant correlation of .25 was found between days of cycle and Deviation Index for the perception of the right half of the body.