Table 3:

Task-based fMRI Results

STUDY	SAMPLE SIZE	HORMONAL CONTRACEPTIVE TYPE (PROGESTIN-ONLY, COMBINED, BOTH ETC.; ANDROGENICITY)	EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN	STIMULUS PARADIGM	ANALYSES	IMAGING METRIC	STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN ACTIVITY BETWEEN NATURALLY CYCLING AND HORMONAL CONTRACEPTIVE GROUP
(ABLER ET AL., 2013)	N= 24 (control 12, experimental 12)	combined; range of androgenicities	Block	Visual task: erotic vs neutral stimuli * cortisol given to OCP and non OCP groups	Whole brain	BOLD signal magnitude	Activation in the precentral gyrus was lower in the OCP group compared to the follicular phase control group during picture expectation (erotic minus non-erotic) No significant differences found between the two control groups (follicular and luteal)
(ARNONI-BAUER ET AL., 2017)	N=29 (control=18 imaged follicular and luteal phase, experimental=11)	combined; low androgenicity	Event related	Visual task: food stimuli	ROI	BOLD signal magnitude	Activation in the amygdala (both fed and fasted states), putamen (fasted state), and prefrontal cortex (fasted state) was higher in the OCP group compared to the follicular control groups when viewing images of food. No significant effects between OCP and luteal control groups.
(BASU ET AL., 2016)	N=8 (control=before DMPA, experimental=after DMPA)	DMPA	Event related	Visual stimulus: food stimuli	Whole brain	BOLD signal magnitude	Activation in the following regions, organized by lobe, was higher in DMPA users compared to imaging at baseline, prior to DMPA: Frontal-cingulate cortex, paracingulate gyrus, postcentral gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, Parietal-superior parietal lobule Temporal-lingual gyrus
(BONENBERGE R ET AL., 2013)	N= 24 (control=12 scanned twice follicular and luteal phase, experimental=12) *overlapping sample with Abler et al.	combined; range of androgenicities	Event related	Monetary incentive task (event related design)	Whole brain and ROI	BOLD signal magnitude	Activation in the anterior insula/inferior lateral prefrontal cortex was higher in the OCP group during monetary reward expectation No significant results in whole brain analyses
(CHUNG ET AL., 2016)	N= 26 (control=13 follicular phase, experimental=13) *14 male subjects also included in this study	combined; range of androgenicities	Block	Mental arithmetic with social evaluative stress *androstenedion e given to OCP and non OCP groups	Whole brain and ROI	BOLD signal magnitude	No significant effects found in relation to androstenedione. Within placebo group (no androstenedione given) : Activation in frontal lobe-L somatosensory cortex (L. SSC) and R pre-motor and supplementary motor area (R. pre-SMA) was lower in OCP users than non-users on whole brain analyses
(GINGNELL ET AL., 2013)	N= 30 (control=15, experimental – 15)	combined; high androgenicity	Block	Visual task: facial vs geometric recognition *subjects are women who previously reported negative mood on OCP	ROI	BOLD signal magnitude	Activation of L insula, L middle frontal gyrus and bilateral inferior frontal gyri was lower in OCP group compared to control group during emotion-inducing facial recognition
(GINGNELL ET AL., 2016)	N=31 (control 16, experimental 15) *Same sample from Gingnell et al., 2013	combined; high androgenicity	Event related	Visual task: Go/No Go task with letters	Whole brain	BOLD signal magnitude	Activation in frontal lobe-right middle frontal gyrus was lower in OCP group compared to control group No significant difference in task performance
(HORNUNG ET AL., 2019)	N=50 (control 21, experimental 29)	combined; unable to determine	Event related	Visual task: face recognition	Whole brain	BOLD signal magnitude	No significant difference compared to control group (luteal phase)
(HWANG ET AL., 2015)	N=48 (control= 16 high serum estradiol women, 16 low estradiol women, experimental=16) *also included data from 37 men	combined; unable to determine	Event related	Fear conditioning and extinction paradigm	ROI	BOLD signal magnitude	Activation in amygdala, insular cortex, middle cingulate cortex was lower in OCP group compared to control high estradiol women group during fear conditioning
(MARECKOVÁ ET AL., 2014)	N= 20 (control=10, experimental=10) *each imaged 4 times: menstruation, follicular phase, mid-cycle and luteal phase *not part of our review criteria but also includes adolescent study	Combined; unable to determine	Event related	Visual task: ambiguous and angry expressions	Whole brain	BOLD signal magnitude	Activation in the right FFA was higher in the OCP group compared to control in both the ambiguous and angry condition.
(MERZ ET AL., 2012)	N= 90 (control=30 luteal, 30 follicular, experimental=30) *32 male subjects also analyzed in this study	combined; unable to determine	Event related	Fear conditioning paradigm: difference conditioned and non-conditioned stimuli *cortisol pill or placebo given to OCP and non OCP groups	Whole brain and ROI	BOLD signal magnitude	Activation in L anterior parahippocampal gyrus and left hippocampus during fear conditioning was enhanced by cortisol in the OCP group as opposed to non OCP group (luteal phase)
(MERZ ET AL., 2013)	N=30 (control=15 luteal, experimental=15) *20 male subjects also analyzed in this study	combined; unable to determine	Event related	Fear conditioning-geometric shape association to electrical stimulation *salivary cortisol measures	Whole brain and ROI	BOLD signal magnitude	Activation in R anterior parahippocampal gyrus and R amygdala was positively correlated to cortisol in the OCP group as opposed to control group (luteal phase)
(MIEDL ET AL., 2018)	N=53 (control=30, experimental=23)	combined; unable to determine	Event related	Visual task: traumatic stimuli	ROI	BOLD signal magnitude	Activation in the frontal lobe-insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex was higher in the OCP group than control during traumatic film viewing
(PETERSEN & CAHILL, 2015)	N=83 (control= 20 follicular phase, 23 luteal phase, experimental= 20 active pill, 20 inactive inactive pill	combined; range of androgenicities	Event related	Visual task: emotional stimuli	ROI	BOLD signal magnitude	Activation in left amygdala was lower in OCP group compared to control group (follicular phase) Activation in right amygdala was lower in OCP group compared to control group (luteal phase)
(PLETZER ET AL., 2014)	N=30 (control=16, experimental=14)	combined; range of androgenicities	Block	Numerical tasks: number comparison and number bisection	Whole brain	BOLD signal magnitude	Activation for within-decade (WD) and non-WD number comparison items was lower in OCP users compared to control (follicular phase) but for WD number comparison items was higher in OCP users compared to control (luteal phase)
(RUMBERG ET AL., 2010)	N=24 (control=12, experimental=12 ) *12 male subjects also analyzed in this study	combined; unable to determine	Block	Verb generation test	Whole brain	BOLD signal magnitude	Activation during verb generation in the temporal lobe (right superior temporal cortex ) was higher for OCP group versus control (menstrual phase), in the frontal lobe (right inferior frontal cortex) was higher for OCP group versus control (mid-luteal phase)
(SCHEELE ET AL., 2016)	N=40 (control=19 both luteal and follicular,experimental=21)	combined; range of androgenicities	Event related	Visual task: face perception task *Intranasal oxytocin given to OCP and non OCP groups	Whole brain	BOLD signal magnitude	When calculating the difference in activation of the bilateral striatum and VTA when participants viewed their partner’s face versus a familiar face, intranasal OXT increased this difference in activation in the non-OCP group but this effect was not observed in the OCP group
(SHARMA, SMITH, ET AL., 2020)	N=75 (control=48, experimental=27)	combined; unable to determine	Event related	Memory task with emotional pictures	ROI	BOLD signal magnitude	Frontal lobe (ie. right inferior frontal gyrus, right mid-frontal gyrus) was higher in the OCP group compared to control during memory processing of negative emotion stimuli
(Vincent et al., 2013)	N= 24 (each imaged 3 times in one month, control= 12, experimental=12)	combined; unable to determine	Block	Noxious stimulation	Whole brain and ROI	BOLD signal magnitude	There is lower activation in the rostral ventromedial medulla in the low testosterone subset of the OCP group compared to control and there is lower activation of the amygdala in the high testosterone subset of the OCP group compared to control in response to noxious stimuli.
(Wen et al., 2021)	N=90 (control=33, experimental=57)	combined; unable to determine	Event related	Fear conditioning and extinction paradigm (event related design) *Estradiol pill or placebo pill given to OCP and non OCP users	ROI	BOLD signal magnitude and correlation coefficients	OCP and non-OCP group showed similar activation and connectivity to serum estradiol levels. Significant negative correlation between estradiol level and mean connectivity in Default mode network, Somatomotor network, Subcortical network in OCP users but not non-OCP group during extinction retention test (day 3)