According to a new research, females are at their smartest self during ovulation.

The research, led by Belinda Pletzer at the University of Salzburg, Austria, said that the size of a woman''s brain changes throughout her menstrual cycle, with some areas growing by as much as 2 per cent in the run-up to ovulation- when women are at their most fertile.

The scientists took MRI scans of the brains of females during their monthly cycles.

In females not taking the tablet, they discovered an increase in the volume of grey matter in the right parahippocampal and fusiform gyri, areas of the brain involved in spatial location and facial recognition.

Pletzer stated that this strengthens women's capabilities to recognize faces, bodies and landscapes.

In actual fact, she said that this may help them to locate a high-quality mating partner.

The research group discovered that the effect is brief, however. After ovulation, growing levels of progesterone lead to the gyri to shrink back.

The group also discovered that females on the pill had a bigger hippocampus and cerebellum, linked with memory and movement, compared to controls.

The results of the research are published in Brain Research. (With Inputs from Agencies)