Women Who Take Contraceptive Pill Are Smarter
August 18th 2010 23:09
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Good news for women taking the birth control pill – it may be making you smarter, London’s Daily Telegraph reported.
A study found that those taking the contraceptive pill increased the size of some parts of their brain by three percent – and this led to an improvement in brain function.
Scientists took MRI images of men, women who take the pill and women who don’t take the pill. The women who do not take the pill were scanned more than once so the scientists could account for hormonal changes in the course of a month.
The scientists found the women who do take the pill have larger areas in their brain than those who do not take the pill, and those areas were linked to memory and conversation skills.
Good news for women taking the birth control pill – it may be making you smarter, London’s Daily Telegraph reported.
A study found that those taking the contraceptive pill increased the size of some parts of their brain by three percent – and this led to an improvement in brain function.
Scientists took MRI images of men, women who take the pill and women who don’t take the pill. The women who do not take the pill were scanned more than once so the scientists could account for hormonal changes in the course of a month.
The scientists found the women who do take the pill have larger areas in their brain than those who do not take the pill, and those areas were linked to memory and conversation skills.
Alastair Jamieson
The Austrian research was based on MRI scans and reported in the Daily Mail.
Scientists took high-resolution images of men, women taking the pill and women not taking the pill.
The women not on the contraceptive were scanned more than once to account for hormonal fluctuations that occur over the course of a month.
Several areas of the brains of women taking the pill were larger than the brains of those not taking the contraceptive.
The areas were those linked to ‘feminine’ skills such as memory and conversation.
Dr Belinda Pletzer, of the University of Salzburg, said: “Larger volumes of a brain area could lead to an improvement of the functions this area is responsible for.
“The behavioural changes due to contraceptive use are likely to affect those skills that are already better developed in women compared to men like, for example, memory.”
The brain did not change in overall size, the study found, and it is not known whether the parts that grew returned to their original size when the contraceptive pill was no longer taken.
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Comment by AmyHuang
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I used to, stopped it about 2 years ago... is that why I am getting dumber??? Hmmm
Comment by katyzzz
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Comment by Spring-Heeled Jack
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1) Maybe women who are on the pill were smarter to begin with, seeing as it's an indication of good sense and forward planning. As such, the pill is a symptom or by-product, not the cause.
2) The idea that an increase of brain size equates with increased intelligence was thrown out along with the entire discipline of phrenology over a century ago. By that logic a blue whale should be the smartest animal on earth...
Comment by katyzzz
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Let's hope that you never have to put it to the test.
But your comments are very much appreciated and I thank you for sharing those thoughts with us, as will others.
Comment by AmyHuang
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Comment by angelbird72
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So if one part is getting bigger, but the whole is the same size, what part is getting smaller?