Birth control pills have been available for nearly 60 years and about 100 million women take them. But despite their ubiquity, some researchers still that think certain aspects of the contraceptives deserve more research. Namely: how the pill might affect the brain. “We know a lot about the physical side effects [of birth control pills], but very little about the psychological side effects,” said Alexander Lischke, a psychology researcher with the University of Greifswald in Germany. So, Lischke and his lab decided to look into how taking the pill might change someone’s ability to process emotion. Their research, published today (Feb. 11) in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience, found that women on the pill mislabeled the emotion on someone’s face 10 percent more often than participants who weren’t on the pill. Though few researchers have looked at this particular influence of the pill — and others think this research isn’t even worth pursuing — the results have Lischke’s lab planning further investigations. [10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Brain] Even so, Lischke was clear that the findings don’t prove cause and effect — in other words, the study doesn’t prove that birth control messes with a woman’s ability to recognize others’ emotions — and that people shouldn’t be concerned about the effects of their own birth control. Rather, he told Live Science that he hopes additional research follows. “If turns out to be true, then it’s worth studying,” he said. Hormones and the brain Lischke and his team chose… [Read full story]
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