Observational analysis reveals hormonal contraceptives may alter cognition in women, indicating psychological studies need to capture daily life experiences.
Hormonal contraceptives and cognition – time to refocus on women! Hormonal contraceptives shape women’s brains in ways we still barely understand, and it’s time to study their effects on the cognitive functions that really matter, not just “male-like” performance, says Belinda Pletzer, Professor of Neuroendocrinology, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience – Paris Lodron University of Salzburg. Psychological studies of cognitive changes during female hormonal transition periods have yielded inconsistent – and often non-significant – findings. Even for the strongest hormonal transitions, such as pregnancy and menopause, laboratory findings regarding cognitive changes don’t necessarily align with patients’ subjective reports, suggesting that laboratory tasks may not fully capture women’s experiences in daily life. (1)
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Belinda Pletzer (2025) studied this question.
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