The Effects of Hormone Contraceptives and Menstruation on Object Memory and Spatial Ability in Young Women

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between hormone contraceptive use and menstruation on cognitive performance in young women. The object array task assessed object memory and a mental rotations test assessed spatial ability in women taking hormone contraceptives and naturally cycling women. Women taking hormone contraceptives were significantly better than naturally cycling women at identifying novel objects on an object array, but not on performance of a mental rotations task. There were also no significant differences in either task between naturally cycling women who were menstruating and those who were not menstruating during testing. The results of this study suggest that women taking hormone contraceptives outperformed naturally cycling women in recalling the identities of objects. The findings from this study help to further demonstrate the relationship between ovarian hormones and cognitive performance and add to the understanding of how hormone contraceptives affect cognition.

Keywords

hormone contraceptives spatial ability object memory mental rotations test menstruation

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Beltz

A. M.

Hampson

Berenbaum

S. A.

(2015). Oral contraceptives and cognition: A role for ethinyl estradiol. Hormones and Behavior, 74, 209-217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.06.012.

Beltz

A. M.

Moser

J. S.

(2020). Ovarian hormones: A long overlooked but critical contributor to cognitive brain structures and function. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1464(1), 156-180. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14255

Bianchini

Verde

Colangeli

Boccia

Strollo

Guariglia

Bizzarro

Piccardi

(2018). Effects of oral contraceptives and natural menstrual cycling on environmental learning. BMC Women’s Health, 18(1), 179. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-018-0671-4

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, November 10). FastStats-contraceptive use. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/contraceptive.htm

Coker

L. H.

Espeland

M. A.

Rapp

S. R.

Legault

Resnick

S. M.

Hogan

Gaussoin

Dailey

Shumaker

S. A.

(2010). Postmenopausal hormone therapy and cognitive outcomes: The women's health initiative memory STUDY (WHIMS). The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 118(4–5), 304-310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsbmb.2009.11.007

Egan

K. R.

Gleason

C. E.

(2012). Longer duration of hormonal contraceptive use predicts better cognitive outcomes later in life. Journal of Women's Health, 21(12), 1259-1266. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2012.3522

Felmingham

K. L.

Fong

W. C.

Bryant

R. A.

(2012). The impact of progesterone on memory consolidation of threatening images in women. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 37(11), 1896-1900. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.03.026

Gogos

(2013). Natural and synthetic sex hormones: Effects on higher-order cognitive function and prepulse inhibition. Biological Psychology, 93(1), 17-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2013.02.001

Hampson

(1990). Variations in sex-related cognitive abilities across the menstrual cycle. Brain and Cognition, 14(1), 26-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/0278-2626(90)90058-v

10.

Harburger

L. L.

Pechenino

A. S.

Saadi

Frick

K. M.

(2008). Post-training progesterone dose-dependently enhances object, but not spatial, memory consolidation. Behavioural Brain Research, 194(2), 174-180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2008.07.014

11.

Harburger

L. L.

Saadi

Frick

K. M.

(2009). Dose-dependent effects of post-training estradiol plus progesterone treatment on object memory consolidation and hippocampal extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation in young ovariectomized mice. Neuroscience, 160(1), 6-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2009.02.024

12.

Levy

L. J.

Astur

R. S.

Frick

K. M.

(2005). Men and Women Differ in Object Memory but Not Performance of a Virtual Radial Maze. Behavioral Neuroscience, 119(4), 853-862. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7044.119.4.853.

13.

Maki

P. M.

Rich

J. B.

Rosenbaum

R. S.

(2002). Implicit memory varies across the menstrual cycle: Estrogen effects in young women. Neuropsychologia, 40(5), 518-529. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0028-3932(01)00126-9

14.

Nielsen

S. E.

Ertman

Lakhani

Y. S.

Cahill

(2011). Hormonal contraception usage is associated with altered memory for an emotional story. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 96(2), 378-384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2011.06.013

15.

Peragine

Simeon-Spezzaferro

Brown

Gervais

N. J.

Hampson

Einstein

(2020). Sex difference or hormonal difference in mental rotation? The influence of ovarian milieu. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 115, 104488. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.104488.

16.

Peters

Laeng

Latham

Jackson

Zaiyouna

Richardson

(1995). A redrawn Vandenberg and Kuse mental rotations test-different versions and factors That affect performance. Brain and Cognition, 28(1), 39-58. https://doi.org/10.1006/brcg.1995.1032

17.

Roozbehi

Sharafi

M. T.

Karimi

Kamali

A. M.

(2017). The impact of using different doses of progesterone on memory performance. Bratislava Medical Journal, 118(7), 405-407. https://doi.org/10.4149/BLL_2017_079

18.

Sherwin

B. B.

(2005). Estrogen and memory in women: how can we reconcile the findings? Hormones and Behavior, 47(3), 371-375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2004.12.002

19.

Shumaker

S. A.

Reboussin

B. A.

Espeland

M. A.

Rapp

S. R.

McBee

W. L.

Dailey

Bowen

Terrell

Jones

B. N.

(1998). The women’s health initiative memory study (WHIMS). Controlled Clinical Trials, 19(6), 604-621. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0197-2456(98)00038-5

20.

Woolley

C. S.

(2007). Acute effects of estrogen on neuronal physiology. Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology, 47(1), 657-680. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.pharmtox.47.120505.105219