Birth control pills reduce emotional recognition in women
The drug affects estrogen and progesterone levels in women, reducing the ability to perceive emotions.
Birth control pills have unwanted side effects such as mood swings, nausea, headaches and breast tenderness. In addition, using the pill also affects a woman's ability to perceive emotions, theo Independent.
Scientists from the University of Greifswald, Germany, studied 95 healthy women aged 18 to 35, of whom 42 used oral contraceptives. The results were recently published inFrontiers in Neuroscience.
For the study, the team showed 37 black-and-white photos showing the area around the eyes on people's faces. Each photo had four labels, each describing a different complex emotional expression, such as "pride" or "contempt."
Volunteers were asked to choose which expression they thought best described the picture, by pressing the corresponding button as quickly as possible. The results showed that women on the pill were less able to accurately decode facial expressions than others.
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Contraceptive pills pose many potential dangers to women's health. Photo:Livesnew |
"Oral contraception causes severe impairment in women's emotional recognition," said lead study author Dr. Alexander Lischke. However, he said this side effect would be difficult to detect if we were not careful enough.
Dr. Lischke said further research is needed to see whether the ability to recognize emotions depends on the type of drug, the time of taking it, and the purpose of use.
“As research is completed, we will know more about the consequences of oral contraceptive use,” says Dr. Lischke.
