Los Angeles, Calif., May 15, 2015 / (CNA/EWTN News).- Adding torecent controversies surrounding various forms of birth control, a new study out of UCLA suggests that the birth control pill may thin areas in a woman's brain and affect their function.Published in April in the journal “Human Brain Mapping,” the study measured cortical thickness in the brains of 90 women – 44 of whom were using oral contraceptives, and 46 of whom were naturally cycling.
Only women using the combination form of oral contraceptives were used in the study – it did not measure women using progesterone-only or other forms of oral contraceptives. The research found that oral contraceptive use was significantly associated with a thinning in two areas of the brain: the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex.
The lateral orbitofrontal cortex is involved in emotion regulation and response to rewards, while the posterior cigulate cortex regulates inward-directed thought, such as recalling personal memories or planning for the future.
Although the study only measured brain structure, the findings suggest that there could be possible effects on behavior.
"Some women experience negative emotional side effects from taking oral contraceptive pills, although the scientific findings investigating that have been mixed," Nicole Petersen, a neuroscientist at UCLA and the study's lead author, told The Huffington Post. "So it's possible that this change in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex may be related to the emotional changes that some women experience when using birth control pills."
Because the study is one of the first of its kind, as far as measuring effects of the birth control pill on brain structure, it’s difficult for scientists to draw any definite conclusions at this point.
But Larry Cahill, a professor of neurobiology and behavior at the University of California-Irvine and a co-author of the study, said while the interest in the link between sex hormones and brain structure has increased in the past few years, he’s amazed at the lack of research considering how long the pill has been on the market.