According to a new study, the contraceptive pill can make certain areas of the brain bigger by as much as 3%. The part of the brain that governed conversation or the so called conversation hub was seen to be enhanced in those women who took the pill.
Not just that, but the grey matter of the brain that determines memory and social skills is also seen to grow in size among the pill takers. This is the first time that the impact of hormonal pills upon the brain has been studied and the study found that several areas of women’s brains were found to be bigger when they took the pill.
Spatial skills such as map reading, which are supposed to be better among men, however were not seen to be positively impacted, since it was the sex hormones that were seen to be affecting the women’s brains.
Those skills such as memory and verbal skills, which are already better developed in men than women, were seen to be further enhanced by the pill.
While it is not clear exactly why this happens, one of the theories offered is that the hormones estrogen or progesterone used to stop eggs from being released also strengthens the links between nerve cells in the brain.
