Mar 20, 2020, 1:02 PM
sciencedaily.com
— “We validated methods for assessing the volume of the hypothalamus and confirm, for the first time, that current oral contraceptive pill usage is associated with smaller hypothalamic volume.”
“The sample size of the study was quite small: 50 women, 21 of whom were on the pill. The study’s findings, which were presented at the Radiological Society of North America, found a six percent decrease in the size of the hypothalamus among women who took birth control pills.”
“Women should not be too concerned about these associations, as there currently is not enough information to change hormonal contraceptive use based on this and similar studies,” Alexandra Herrera, a University of Southern California gerontologist who is not involved in the study, said.”— Herrara (Female)
STUDY AUTHOR
–“”We found a dramatic difference in the size of the brain structures between women who were taking oral contraceptives and those who were not,” Dr. Lipton said. “This initial study shows a strong association and should motivate further investigation into the effects of oral contraceptives on brain structure and their potential impact on brain function.””– Dr Lipton (Male)
COMMENTS
Note that (a) while the sample size is under 100, it’s not tiny. (b) 6% is a non trivial decline in hippocampal size, (c) the hippocampus is where your concept of the world is integrated and output for emotional reaction, (d) this is not the first study to illustrate the shrinkage.
AND
(a) both men and women emotionally coddle women. (b) the author of the comment is a woman. (c) she’s using the vocabulary of coddling.
if you asked me how a drug would show up in a problem of emotional regulation i would say ‘somewhere within the hippocampal region”.
STUDY:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/12/191204090819.htm