Contraceptive Pills May Be Changing Your Brain

Neuroscientists have revealed that the synthetic hormones found in popular birth control pills can affect the function of the brain.

In a recent study of 90 women (44 were taking the Pill), researchers at UCLA found that two key areas of the brain were thinner in women taking the contraceptive pill than those who were not.

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The posterior cingulate cortex is involved with processing emotions and retrieving memories, and the lateral orbitofrontal cortex plays an important role in regulating a person's emotions.

Changes in this part of the brain could explain why some women experience anxiety and depressive symptoms when they begin taking the Pill.

"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," Nicole Petersen, a neuroscientist at UCLA, told The Huffington Post.

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Nausea, headaches, altered mood and increased weight gain are all common side effects associated with taking the Pill.

Researchers are yet to determine if these changes to the brain are permanent, or if they only last while the woman is using the birth control.

"We need to do more studies to find out what behaviours might be changed, but this study gives us some targets to start with, and I think the first place to look is at the effect of birth control pills on regulating emotions," Peterson said.