Lastly, only a few well-controlled studies have assessed the effects alcohol on performance at different phases of the menstrual cycle and although alcohol impaired performance on the DSST (Holdstock and de Wit, 2000) and flight simulator performance among female pilots (Mumenthaler et al., 2001), no menstrual cycle phase differences were observed. The results of the present study confirm and extend these previous studies in that, with the exception that alcohol produced slightly greater impairment on the balance task during the luteal phase, alcohol impaired a wide range of performance tasks to a similar extent in both menstrual cycle phases.
