Table 2:
Resting State fMRI Results
| STUDY | SAMPLE SIZE | HORMONAL CONTRACEPTIVE TYPE (PROGESTIN-ONLY, COMBINED, BOTH ETC.; ANDROGENICITY) | STIMULUS PARADIGM | ANALYSES | IMAGING METRIC | STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN ACTIVITY BETWEEN NATURALLY CYCLING AND HORMONAL CONTRACEPTIVE GROUP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PETERSEN ET AL., 2014) | N=91 (20 F, 25L, 22 active pill, 24 inactive pill user) | combined; range of androgenicities*(not all participant’s OCP reported) | Resting State | Whole brain | Correlation coefficients | Connectivity in frontal lobe (right caudate nucleus with anterior default mode network, left anterior cingulate cortex with executive control network, left middle frontal gyrus with executive control network) was lower in OCP group compared to control group (follicular phase) |
| (DE BONDT, SMEETS, ET AL., 2015) | N= 37 (control 18, experimental 19) |
combined; range of androgenicities | Resting state | ROI | Correlation coefficients | No significant difference in default mode network |
| (ENGMAN ET AL., 2018) | N=35 (control 18, experimental 17) *overlapping sample with Gingnell et al. 2013 |
combined; high androgenicity | Resting state *in women who previously reported negative mood on OCP | ROI | Correlation coefficients | Lower connectivity in amygdala network and salience network with dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) seeds in OCP users compared to control (luteal phase) |
| (LISOFSKY ET AL., 2016) | N=56 (control 28, experimental 28) | unable to determine | Resting state | Whole brain | Correlation coefficients | Connectivity between left amygdala/anterior parahippocampal gyrus and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex changed from positive to negative connectivity with OCP use compared to the opposite was observed for the control group. |
| (SHARMA, FANG, ET AL., 2020) | N=75 (control 48, experimental 27) | unable to determine | Resting state | Whole brain | Correlation coefficients | Significant changes, both increases and decreases, in connectivity in: Salience network Central executive network Reward network Subcortical limbic network Functional connectivity between the right putamen seed and right middle frontal gyrus *No significant effects appreciated in default mode network |
| (WEN ET AL., 2021) | N=90 (control 33, experimental 57) | combined; range of androgenicities | Resting state | ROI | Correlation coefficients | Significant positive correlation between estradiol level and mean connectivity in the visual network, default mode network, somatomotor network in OCP users but not control |