Birth Control Pills may Change the Way You Recall Emotional Events

Taking birth control pills may change the way you remember an emotional event, a new study conducted by a group of neurologists at UC Irvine reveals. The researchers conducted the study on 72 women who were either taking the birth control pills or were naturally cycling. All of the women were shown either an “emotionally arousing” narrative involving a car hitting a boy and injuring him or one which contained only neutral elements which involved the car hitting the curb.

The researchers then recalled the women after a week and found that those who were on the pill had an enhanced memory of the overall gist of the story while those who did not take the pill displayed better recall of the details of the story.

“What's most exciting about this study is that it shows the use of hormonal contraception alters memory. There are only a handful of studies examining the cognitive effects of the pill, and more than 100 million women use it worldwide”, one of the researchers involved in the study, Shawn Nielsen said.

Source-Medindia