Effects of oral contraceptives and natural menstrual cycling on environmental learning

Abstract

BackgroundEndogenous ovarian hormones as well as exogenous oestradiol and progesterone play an important role in cognitive processing. Specifically, these hormones play a role in different aspects of memory, both in terms of storage capacity and temporal duration of the mnemonic track. These hormones also have various effects on different types of memory (i.e., verbal, visuo-spatial, prospective). This study investigated the effects of hormones on topographic memory, a type of memory specifically needed to recall a pathway and to acquire spatial information about locations, distances, and directions.MethodsWe compared 25 naturally cycling women (NCW) in two different cycling phases, the early follicular phase (4th - 5th days) and the mid-luteal phase (20th-21st days), with 26 women taking oral contraceptives (OC) tested in the active pill phase (20th to 21st day of OC cycle) and the inactive pill phase (2nd to 4th day of OC cycle). Both groups performed the Walking Corsi Test to assess topographic memory in their respective cycling phases. Women were instructed to learn an eight-step sequence path and recall the path five minutes later.ResultsWe found that the two groups differed in terms of learning the 8-step sequence path; OC users were always better (4–5 days vs. 20–21 days) than NCW. No differences emerged in the delayed recall of the same path.ConclusionsAs already observed in other memory domains (i.e., verbal memory, emotional memory), OC users showed an advantage in terms of topographic learning. Our results might be explained by hormonal mechanisms and may suggest the future application of OC in women with topographic disorders or visuo-spatial difficulties.

Modulation of premotor cortex response to sequence motor learning during escitalopram intake

“…Second, our results may not generalize to males or older adults as our sample consists only of females with standardized downregulation of ovarian hormones. This was a deliberate a-priori restriction to eliminate confounds such as sex differences 33 and fluctuating endogenous sex hormones on environmental learning 83 and escitalopram responsivity. While future studies in males, naturally cycling females, as well as healthy aged participants and stroke patients are needed, this choice of sample is also critical given that the majority of preclinical studies test only male samples, 84 posing a critical obstacle to successful translation from healthy models to patients.…”

Do Advanced Spatial Strategies Depend on the Number of Flight Hours? The Case of Military Pilots

“…Among the external factors are environmental configuration, landmark visual accessibility, circulation systems and signage [5,6]. In contrast, internal factors include the individual's inclination to capture some environmental information instead of other (field dependence/independence [7][8][9][10][11]), gender [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], age [20][21][22][23][24][25], familiarity with the environment and job-related expertise [4,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. Internal factors can also include the navigational strategies that the individual prefers to use to navigate.…”

Heat shock protein response during fixed intensity and self-paced exercise in the heat in young, healthy women on oral contraceptives compared with young healthy men

“…Serum protein concentrations were not corrected for plasma volume shifts, thus all statistical analyses were performed on actual measured circulating concentrations. [14] Statistical analysis A priori power calculations were conducted using G*Power (G*Power 3.1.2, Franz Faul, Germany), which indicated eight participants were needed. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to determine differences between environmental and OC conditions in cycling performance or biochemical markers.…”