2023-11-07 19:19:52
The use of common contraceptive pills could affect regions that regulate fear in women’s brains. This is the hypothesis suggested by a team of scientists based on the results of a study published in ‘Frontiers in Endocrinology’. The authors recruited women who use combined hormonal contraceptives (COCs), women who have used this pill previously but were not doing so at the time of the study, women who have never used any form of hormonal contraception, and men. The comparison between these groups allowed the researchers to verify whether the use of COCs was associated with morphological alterations and to detect any differences between the sexes, since – the experts explain – it is established that women are more susceptible to experiencing anxiety and disorders related to stress than men.
The results of the study
What scientists have found is that the use of these oral contraceptives can affect the morphology of the brain in the area of neural circuits through which fear is processed. “We showed that healthy women who were using Coc” at the time of the study “had a thinner ventromedial prefrontal cortex than men,” explains Alexandra Brouillard, a researcher at the Université du Québec à Montréal and first author of the study.
“This part of the prefrontal cortex is thought to support emotion regulation, such as decreasing fear signals in the context of a safe situation. Our finding may represent a mechanism by which combined hormonal contraceptives might impair emotion regulation in women”.
More than 150 million women worldwide use oral contraceptives. And Cocs, made of synthetic hormones, are the most common type. The Canadian team wanted to investigate the present and lasting effects of using these pills. In detail, experts say the effects of sex hormones on brain development, which continues into early adulthood, are rarely addressed. And considering how widespread the use of the pill is, it’s important to do so. “Because we report a reduction in cortical thickness of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in COC users compared to men, this finding suggests that ‘these drugs’ may confer a risk factor for deficits in emotion regulation during use,” Brouillard said. The researchers also point out that the impact could be reversible once you stop taking it.
Since the thinning effect of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex was not observed in women who had previously used the pill, the study does not support the theory of long-lasting anatomical effects, according to the authors. All this, they point out, will need to be confirmed in further studies. There is still much to learn, scientists highlight. Brouillard and colleagues are currently studying the impact of age of onset and duration of pill use. And they also highlight the limitations of current work.
A causal relationship between COC use and brain morphology cannot be implied, they note, and generalizability of their findings to a general population may be limited. The researchers also caution that it is not possible to draw conclusions from the anatomical findings about the behavioral and psychological impact.
“The goal of our work is not to combat the use of COCs, but it is important to be aware that the pill can have an effect on the brain. Our goal is to increase scientific interest in women’s health and raise awareness about early prescription of COCs and on brain development, a highly unknown topic”, concludes Brouillard.
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