There is limited evidence to support the common belief that the menstrual cycle affects women's moods, but this cultural belief can cause women and others to blame their normal mood variations on their menstrual cycles. The belief that the premenstrual phase causes depression or that menstruation is painful, shameful, or unclean could be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Non-emotional changes are also minor and rare; athletic and general intellectual achievement – including academic performance, problem-solving, memory, and creativity – do not vary during the menstrual cycle. Any improvements in spatial reasoning ability are probably caused by the lower levels of estrogen and progesterone during the menstruation phase of the cycle.