According to a recent study conducted by specialists at the University of California, Los Angeles, oral contraceptives can significantly affect brain activity. The results show that they alter women’s emotional state and mood, reducing individual neural characteristics, reports Peopletalk.
The study involved 26 women aged 20 to 33. During the cycle, they first took contraceptive pills and then a placebo. In both stages, they underwent functional MRI, and their mood was evaluated through special tests.
The results showed that during the use of contraceptives, brain activity became similar, and some individual characteristics that normally distinguish one person from another disappeared. This was especially noticeable in areas responsible for planning, emotions, and self-control.
Many of the participants also reported negative mood changes while taking the medication. Researchers link this to the influence of hormones on key brain areas that regulate emotions.
According to the researchers, the study had some limitations — the sample was small and the observation lasted only a few weeks. Nevertheless, the findings indicate the need for larger and longer-term research in this field.
Experts have previously noted that contraceptives may, in some cases, increase the risk of stroke in women. However, the pill remains one of the most widely used methods of protection: in the United States, up to one in four women of reproductive age use it, and in the United Kingdom, nearly three million.
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