Effect of pregnancy on the auditory and visual reaction time

Background: The auditory and visual pathways are complex multi-synaptic neuronal circuits prone to alteration in conductivity under the influence of various neuro-hormonal modulators. The female sex steroids have shown significant effect on these circuits during different phases on menstrual cycle and pregnancy.Methods: The present study was designed with an aim to find out the auditory and visual reaction time variations during different trimesters of pregnancy. The healthy non pregnant women, in premenstrual phase were grouped as controls (Group NP; n=30) whereas the cases were further divided into 3 groups depending on the duration of pregnancy as Groups T1,T2and T3 with 30 volunteers in each.Results: The ART and VRT were measured using RTM-608 (Medicaid) in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology department of our hospital. The observations were recorded and analysed using one way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey test. A significant increase (p