How Birth Control Pills Affect the Female Brain

Project Information

BECONTRA

Grant agreement ID: 850953

DOI

10.3030/850953

Project closed

EC signature date 16 January 2020

Start date 1 June 2020

End date 31 May 2026

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 499 726,00

EU contribution

€ 1 499 726,00

Coordinated by

PARIS-LODRON-UNIVERSITAT SALZBURG
Austria

CORDIS provides links to public deliverables and publications of HORIZON projects.

Links to deliverables and publications from FP7 projects, as well as links to some specific result types such as dataset and software, are dynamically retrieved from OpenAIRE .

Publications

Peer reviewed articles (20)

Duration of oral contraceptive use relates to cognitive performance and brain activation in current and past users.

Author(s): Noachtar, I. A., Hidalgo-Lopez, E., & Pletzer, B.
Published in: Frontiers in Endocrinology, 2022, ISSN 1664-2392
Publisher: Frontiers
DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.885617

Progestagens and progesterone receptor modulation: Effects on the brain, mood, stress, and cognition in females

Author(s): Celine Bencker, Laura Gschwandtner, Sibel Nayman, Ramunė Grikšienė, Billie Nguyen, Urs M. Nater, Rachida Guennoun, Inger Sundström-Poromaa, Belinda Pletzer, Marie Bixo, Erika Comasco
Published in: Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, Issue 76, 2025, Page(s) 101160, ISSN 0091-3022
Publisher: Academic Press
DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2024.101160

Whole-brain dynamics across the menstrual cycle: the role of hormonal fluctuations and age in healthy women

Author(s): Daniela S. Avila-Varela, Esmeralda Hidalgo-Lopez, Paulina Clara Dagnino, Irene Acero-Pousa, Elvira del Agua, Gustavo Deco, Belinda Pletzer, Anira Escrichs
Published in: npj Women's Health, Issue 2, 2024, ISSN 2948-1716
Publisher: npj women's health
DOI: 10.1038/s44294-024-00012-4

Weak associations between personality and contraceptive choice.

Author(s): Pletzer, B., Lang, C., Derntl, B., & Grikšienė, R.
Published in: Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2022, ISSN 1662-453X
Publisher: Frontiers
DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.898487

Oral contraceptives modulate the relationship between resting brain activity, amygdala connectivity and emotion recognition–a resting state fMRI study

Author(s): Shanice Menting-Henry, Esmeralda Hidalgo-Lopez, Markus Aichhorn, Martin Kronbichler, Hubert Kerschbaum, Belinda Pletzer
Published in: Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 2022, ISSN 1662-5153
Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation
DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.775796

Towards a more comprehensive neuroscience of hormonal contraceptives

Author(s): Petersen, N., Beltz, A. M., Casto, K. V., Taylor, C. M., Jacobs, E. G., Sundström-Poromaa, I., & Pletzer, B.
Published in: Nature Neuroscience, 2023, ISSN 1546-1726
Publisher: Nature
DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01273-z

Progesterone and contraceptive progestin actions on the brain: A systematic review of animal studies and comparison to human neuroimaging studies

Author(s): Pletzer, B., Winkler-Crepaz, K., Hillerer, K.
Published in: Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 2023, ISSN 0091-3022
Publisher: Academic Press
DOI: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2023.101060

Hormonal contraception & face processing: examining face gender, androgenicity & treatment duration

Author(s): B. Pletzer, I. Noachtar, E. Hidalgo-Lopez
Published in: Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2023, ISSN 1873-3360
Publisher: Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106292

Spatial and verbal performance relate to the duration of combined oral contraceptive use but do not change during the pill-free interval

Author(s): Isabel Noachtar, Belinda Pletzer
Published in: Hormones and Behavior, Issue 174, 2026, Page(s) 105790, ISSN 0018-506X
Publisher: Academic Press
DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2025.105790

Spectral dynamic causal modelling in healthy women reveals brain connectivity changes along the menstrual cycle

Author(s): Esmeralda Hidalgo-Lopez,Peter Zeidman, Ti-Anni Harris, Adeel Razi, Belinda Pletzer
Published in: Communications Biology, Issue 4, 2021, Page(s) 1-14, ISSN 2399-3642
Publisher: Nature
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02447-w

Emotion recognition and mood along the menstrual cycle

Author(s): Belinda Pletzer, Isabel Noachtar
Published in: Hormones and Behavior, Issue 154, 2024, Page(s) 105406, ISSN 0018-506X
Publisher: Academic Press
DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105406

Mental Health Symptoms in Oral Contraceptive Users During Short-Term Hormone Withdrawal

Author(s): Isabel A. Noachtar, Vibe G. Frokjaer, Belinda Pletzer
Published in: JAMA Network Open, Issue 6, 2023, Page(s) e2335957, ISSN 2574-3805
Publisher: JAMA network open
DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.35957

Hormonal contraceptive exposure relates to changes in resting state functional connectivity of anterior cingulate cortex and amygdala

Author(s): Esmeralda Hidalgo-Lopez, Isabel Noachtar, Belinda Pletzer
Published in: Frontiers in Endocrinology, Issue 14, 2023, ISSN 1664-2392
Publisher: Frontiers in endocrinology
DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1131995

Triple network model of brain connectivity changes related to adverse mood effects in an oral contraceptive placebo-controlled trial.

Author(s): E. Hidalgo-Lopez, J. Engman, I. Sundström-Poromaa, M. Gingnell, B. Pletzer
Published in: Translational Psychiatry, 2023, ISSN 2158-3188
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
DOI: 10.1101/2022.08.11.22278664

Adolescent Hormonal Contraceptive Use in the Context of Brain Development and Depression Risk: A Review and Considerations for Future Research

Author(s): Niamh MacSweeney, Taleah Dumoulin, Eira R. Aksnes, Claudia Barth, Arielle Crestol, Carina Heller, Hedvig Nordeng, Yara J. Toenders, Katharina Winkler-Crepaz, Belinda Pletzer, Adriene M. Beltz, Christian K. Tamnes
Published in: Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science, Issue 6, 2026, Page(s) 100758, ISSN 2667-1743
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2026.100758

Reproducible stability of verbal and spatial functions along the menstrual cycle

Author(s): Belinda Pletzer, Hannah Bodenbach, Marcel Hoehn, Linda Hajdari, Tobias Hausinger, Isabel Noachtar, Adriene M. Beltz
Published in: Neuropsychopharmacology, Issue 49, 2024, Page(s) 933-941, ISSN 0893-133X
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
DOI: 10.1038/s41386-023-01789-9

N-back task revisited: Comparing the neural correlates of updating and interference control

Author(s): Esmeralda Hidalgo-Lopez, Isabel Noachtar, Belinda Angela Pletzer
Published in: Imaging Neuroscience, Issue 3, 2025, ISSN 2837-6056
Publisher: MIT Press
DOI: 10.1162/imag.a.1025

Impairment of Executive Functions in Premenstrual Syndrome: State or Trait?

Author(s): Anna Madeleine Gnaiger, Patricia Werlein, Patricia Gruschwitz, Magdalena Siebers, Alina Panzik, Erika Comasco, Esmeralda Hidalgo-Lopez, Belinda Pletzer
Published in: Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science, Issue 6, 2026, Page(s) 100730, ISSN 2667-1743
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2026.100730

Sex and strategy effects on brain activation during a 3D-navigation task.

Author(s): Noachtar, I., Harris, T. A., Hidalgo-Lopez, E., & Pletzer, B.
Published in: Communications biology, 2022, ISSN 2399-3642
Publisher: Nature Publishing group
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03147-9

Editorial: Effects of hormonal contraceptives on the brain

Author(s): Belinda Pletzer, Erika Comasco, Esmeralda Hidalgo-Lopez, Agnès Lacreuse, Birgit Derntl
Published in: Frontiers in Endocrinology, Issue 14, 2023, ISSN 1664-2392
Publisher: Frontiers in endocrinology
DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1129203

Book chapters (1)

Menstrual cycle-related changes in the human brain

Author(s): Belinda Pletzer, Erika Comasco, Esmeralda Hidalgo-Lopez, Ann-Christin S. Kimmig, Inger Sundström-Poromaa, Birgit Derntl
Published in: Encyclopedia of the Human Brain, 2025, Page(s) 604-623
Publisher: Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-820480-1.00151-0

Other (3)

Spatial and Verbal Performance relates to the Duration of Combined Oral Contraceptive Use, but does not change during the Pill-free Interval?

Author(s): Isabel Asar Noachtar, Belinda Pletzer
Published in: 2023
Publisher: Center for Open Science
DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/j4e6w

Genetic contributions to premenstrual symptoms: revisiting the role of the <i>ESR1</i> gene

Author(s): Angelika Lahnsteiner, Esmeralda Hidalgo-Lopez, Isabel Noachtar, Tobias Hausinger, Anna Gnaiger, Katrin Griesbach, Diana Scutelnic, Angela Risch, Belinda Angela Pletzer
Published in: 2026
Publisher: openRxiv
DOI: 10.1101/2025.01.13.25320449

Association and Timing of Changes in Emotion Regulation and Mood along the Menstrual Cycle in Women with Premenstrual Syndrome

Author(s): Belinda Pletzer, Anna Gnaiger, Julia Kinzelmann, Patricia Werlein, Livia Rauter, Esmeralda Hidalgo-Lopez
Published in: 2026
Publisher: openRxiv
DOI: 10.1101/2025.03.18.25324201