Effects of oral contraceptives on spatial cognition depend on pharmacological properties and phase of the contraceptive cycle
Bibliographic record
Abstract
The central nervous system effects of oral contraceptives (OCs) are not well-documented. In a set of 3 studies, we investigated a specific cognitive function, mental rotation, in healthy women currently using OCs for contraceptive purposes (n = 201) and in medication-free controls not using OCs (n = 44). Mental rotation was measured using a well-standardized and extensively validated psychometric test, the Vandenberg Mental Rotations Test (MRT). In an initial study (Study 1), current OC users (n = 63) were tested during the active or inactive phases of the contraceptive cycle in a parallel-groups design. Studies 2 and 3 were based on an archival dataset (n = 201 current OC users) that consisted of data on the MRT collected in real-time over a 30-year period and compiled for purposes of the present work. The OCs were combined formulations containing ethinyl estradiol (10-35 ug/day) plus a synthetic progestin. All 4 families of synthetic progestins historically used in OCs were represented in the dataset. Cognitive performance was evaluated during either active OC use (‘active phase’) or during the washout week of the contraceptive cycle (‘inactive phase’) when OC steroids are not used. The results showed a significant phase-of-cycle (POC) effect. Accuracy on the MRT was mildly diminished during the active phase of OC use, while scores on verbal fluency and speeded motor tasks were modestly improved. The POC effect was most evident in women using OCs that contained first- or second-generation progestins (the estrane family of progestins or OCs containing levonorgestrel), but not in women using OCs containing recently developed progestins and lower doses of ethinyl estradiol. Using independently established ratings of the estrogenic, androgenic, and progestogenic intensities of the different OC formulations, each brand of OC was classified according to its distinct endocrine profile. Multiple regression revealed that the effects of OC use on the MRT could be predicted based on the estrogenic strength of the contraceptives used. Estrogenic potency, not androgenic or anti-androgenic effects of the OC pill, may underlie the effects of OC usage on spatial cognition.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.005 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".