Abstract:
Hundreds of millions of people worldwide use hormonal contraceptives (HCs), which have been an essential part of women\'s reproductive health care for decades. Throughout that time, however, research on the neural and behavioral consequences of HCs was minimal and plagued by poor methodology. HC effects - and users - were assumed to be homogenous. Fortunately, there has been a recent upswell in the number and quality of investigations, affording tentative conclusions about the roles of HCs in spatial cognition and mental health, particularly depression. Thus, this paper leverages findings from the past few years to highlight the heterogeneous aspects of use that seem to matter for behavior - ranging from variation in hormonal contraceptive formulations and routes of administration to individual differences among users linked to age and reproductive health history. This paper closes with five tips for future research that will help capture and clarify heterogeneity in potential relations between HCs and behavior, namely data collection, regional access, lifespan factors, gender, and collaboration. HCs are sociopolitically provocative and research on their potential behavioral neuroendocrine impacts is becoming increasingly popular. It is, therefore, imperative for scientists to conduct replicable and robust empirical investigations, and to communicate findings with the nuance that the heterogeneity among users and effects requires.
摘要:
全球数以亿计的人使用激素避孕药(HCs),几十年来,这一直是妇女生殖保健的重要组成部分。在这段时间里,然而,对HCs的神经和行为后果的研究很少,而且方法论很差。HC效应-和用户-被认为是同质的。幸运的是,最近调查的数量和质量都有所上升,提供关于HCs在空间认知和心理健康中的作用的初步结论,尤其是抑郁症。因此,本文利用过去几年的研究结果来强调似乎对行为有影响的异质性使用方面-从激素避孕配方和给药途径的变化到使用者之间与年龄和生殖健康史相关的个体差异。本文以未来研究的五个提示结束,这些提示将有助于捕获和阐明HCs与行为之间潜在关系的异质性,即数据收集,区域访问,寿命因素,性别,和合作。HCs具有社会政治挑衅性,对其潜在行为神经内分泌影响的研究越来越受欢迎。是的,因此,科学家必须进行可复制和强有力的实证研究,并将发现与用户和效果之间的异质性所需的细微差别进行沟通。