Emotional hormones: the impact of endogenous and synthetic sex steroids on sexual responsiveness in women

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Birgit Derntl
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology ; Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
• Term: from 2017 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 383682113

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

Historically, "the pill" has had a significant impact an the societal structures and emancipation of warnen and is still taken daily by more than 150 million women worldwide. Despite growing concerns about psychological side effects, surprisingly little research has been done an the possible psychological and neurobiological effects of the oral contraceptives (OCs). Preliminary studies indicate potential OC-related changes in women's well-being and social behavior, which could have significant individual and societal implications. An important aspect in terms of social behavior and possible OC-related effects is female sexual behavior. lndeed, preliminary studies indicate changes in partner preference, sexual desire, and reward processing under OC use. However, the extent to which OC use also influences sexual appetence and associated approach and avoidance behaviors had remained unexplored. The aim of this project was therefore to investigate, using a multimodal approach (integrating behavioral data, subjective cues, hormonal and neural parameters), possible effects of OC use an general aspects of psychological well-being and socio-emotional abilities such as mood, emotion recognition, as weil as empathy but in particular on sexual appetence. To better understand brain functioning in relation to socio-emotional behavior, it is essential to consider the effects of artificial sex hormones, which are contained in OCs. To this end, we have laid the groundwork by investigating and demonstrating for the first time cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between artificial sex hormone levels and brain function associated with socio-affective processes. Status of OC intake as well as artificial sex hormone levels were associated with (1) changes in explicit sexual approach behavior and processing of positive (sexual) stimuli, (2) changes in mood as well as neural connectivity of mood-related brain regions, and (3) lower empathy-related behavior as well as brain activity. Emotion recognition, an the other hand, appears to be relatively robust to potential effects of the artificial sex hormones contained in OCs. Ultimately, the results may help guide women's decision-making regarding contraceptive methods and advance the development of improved preparations and personalized medicine in the field of contraception.

Publications

• Deutsche Gesellschaq für Klinische Neurophysiologie und Bildgebung (DGKN), 2017, Leipzig, Das soziale Gehirn – welchen Einfluss üben Geschlechtshormone darauf aus?
  B. Derntl
  
• Sektion Neuroendokrinologie (SNE), German Endocrine Society, Subsectoon Neuroendocrinology, 2017, Berlin, Der Einfluss endogener und synthetischer Geschlechtshormone auf das soziale Gehirn
  B. Derntl
  
• Im Hinblick auf sozioemotionale Prozesse und das Gehirn - Auswirkungen von (synthetischen) Geschlechtshormonen bei Frauen. NeuroAktuell 5, 17-23. (2018)
  Kimmig, A-C.S. & Derntl, B.
  
• Psychologie und Gehirn (PuG), German Psychological Society, Subsection Biological Psychology, 2018, Gießen, Title: Emotionale Hormone: Der Einfluss endogener vs. synthetischer Geschlechtshormone auf sexuelle Responsivität bei Frauen
  A-C. S. Kimmig
  
• Winterschool “Sex Hormones and the Brain”, 2018, Tübingen, Emotional hormones: the impact of endogenous and synthe4c sex steriods on female’s sexual responsiveness
  A-C. S. Kimmig
  
• 10. International Meeting “STEROIDS and NERVOUS SYSTEM”, 2019, Torino, 6tle: Friend versus enemy: The impact of sex steroids on female’s empathic abilities
  A-C. S. Kimmig
  
• 4th DK “Imaging the Mind” Winter School, 2019, Salzburg, Processing of erotic stimuli in men and women
  B. Derntl
  
• 9. IMPRS NeuroCom Summer School, 2019, Leipzig, Single men vs couple scenes - the influence of endogenous and synthetic ovarian hormones on female’s sexual responsiveness
  A-C. S. Kimmig
  
• DGPPN, 2019, Berlin, Sexuelle Responsivität bei Frauen mit unterschiedlichen Geschlechtshormonspiegeln
  A-C. S. Kimmig
  
• Effects of Hormonal Contraceptives on Mood: A Focus on Emotion Recognition and Reactivity, Reward Processing, and Stress Response. Current Psychiatry Reports, 21(11).
  Lewis, Carolin A.; Kimmig, Ann-Christin S.; Zsido, Rachel G.; Jank, Alexander; Derntl, Birgit & Sacher, Julia
  
• NeNa, 2019, Schramberg, Single men vs couple scenes - the influence of endogenous and synthetic ovarian hormones on female’s sexual responsiveness
  A-C. S. Kimmig
  
• Orale Kontrazeptiva – mit Vorsicht zu genießen? pro familia medizin - der familienplanungsrundbrief 1, 8-13. (2019)
  Kimmig, A-C.S., Buchheit, A. & Derntl, B.
  
• PuG, 2019, Dresden, The Influence of Oral Contraceptives and Menstrual Cycle on Female’s Empathic Abilities
  A-C. S. Kimmig
  
• Winterschool “Sex Hormones and the Brain”, 2019, Uppsala, Female sex hormones and approach/avoidance tendencies
  A-C. S. Kimmig
  
• Annual Meeting of the Lithuanian Neuroscience Association, 2020, Tübingen (online), Emotional Hormones: how sex hormones affect women's brain and behavior
  B. Derntl
  
• Use of an estradiol-based combined oral contraceptives has no influence on attentional bias or depressive symptoms in healthy women. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 113, 104544.
  Scheuringer, Andrea; Lundin, Cecilia; Derntl, Birgit; Pletzer, Belinda & Sundström, Poromaa Inger
  
• FENS Meeting, 2021, Krakow (online), Investigating effects of oral contraceptives on women’s intra and intersex social behaviours and their neural correlates
  A-C. S. Kimmig
  
• Friend vs. Foe: Cognitive and Affective Empathy in Women With Different Hormonal States. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15.
  Kimmig, Ann-Christin Sophie; Wildgruber, Dirk; Wendel, Sina-Maria Ute; Sundström-Poromaa, Inger & Derntl, Birgit
  
• PuG, 2021, Tübingen (online), Neural circuits underlying female sexual appetence: An integrative account
  A-C. S. Kimmig
  
• PuG, 2021, Tübingen (online): The predictive role of (synthetic) sex hormones in hippocampal and amygdala grey macer volumes
  A-C. S. Kimmig
  
• CIVIS Tripartite Symposium, 2022, Tübingen (online), Emotion – cognition interaction: Regulation processes in the female and male brain
  B. Derntl
  
• Dutch Neuroscience Meeting, 2022, Shaping the female brain by hormonal transi4on periods: a factor for health and disease?
  B. Derntl
  
• ESCAN, 2022, Wien, Reduced affective empathy in women on oral contraceptives: a crosssectional fMRI study
  A-C. S. Kimmig
  
• Imaging the human brain on oral contraceptives: A review of structural imaging methods and implications for future research goals. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 67, 101031.
  Heller, Carina; Kimmig, Ann-Christin S.; Kubicki, Marek R.; Derntl, Birgit & Kikinis, Zora
  
• Lower affective empathy in oral contraceptive users: a cross-sectional fMRI study. Cerebral Cortex, 33(8), 4319-4333.
  Kimmig, Ann-Christin Sophie; Wildgruber, Dirk; Gärtner, Anna; Drotleff, Bernhard; Krylova, Marina; Lämmerhofer, Michael; Sundström-Poromaa, Inger & Derntl, Birgit
  
• No Differences in Value-Based Decision-Making Due to Use of Oral Contraceptives. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 13.
  Lewis, Carolin A.; Kimmig, Ann-Christin S.; Kroemer, Nils B.; Pooseh, Shakoor; Smolka, Michael N.; Sacher, Julia & Derntl, Birgit
  
• No Evidence for a Role of Oral Contraceptive-Use in Emotion Recognition But Higher Negativity Bias in Early Follicular Women. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 15.
  Kimmig, Ann-Christin Sophie; Bischofberger, Jasper Amadeus; Birrenbach, Annika Dorothea; Drotleff, Bernhard; Lämmerhofer, Michael; Sundström-Poromaa, Inger & Derntl, Birgit
  
• OHBM, 2022, Glasgow, Social-Affective Resting State Connectivity across Start and Termination of Oral Contraceptive Use
  A-C. S. Kimmig
  
• To start or to discontinue the pill – changes in progestogens reflected by resting-state connectivity and positive mood. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
  Kimmig, A.-C.S.; Friedrich, P.; Drotleff, B.; Lämmerhofer, M.; Sundström-Poromaa, I.; Weis, S. & Derntl, B.
  
• Editorial: Effects of hormonal contraceptives on the brain. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 14.
  Pletzer, Belinda; Comasco, Erika; Hidalgo-Lopez, Esmeralda; Lacreuse, Agnès & Derntl, Birgit
  
• ISPNE, 2023, London, Role of Hormonal Change after Start and Discontinuation of the Pill in Women’s Functional Brain Architecture and Mental Health
  A-C. S. Kimmig
  
• Mind the Gap, 2023, Tübingen (online), Empathy, stress and so much more: Hormonal contraception and the social brain
  B. Derntl
  
• PuG, 2023, Tübingen, The role of oral contraceptive status in viewing erotic s4muli: A longitudinal eye-tracking study
  M. Marsiglia
  
• PuG, 2023, Tübingen, To start or to discontinue oral contraception - sexual appetence and erotic stimuli processing: A longitudinal fMRI study
  A-C. S. Kimmig
  
• SANS Meeting, 2023, Santa Barbara, The Empathic Brain on Oral Contraceptives: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal fMRI Findings
  A-C. S. Kimmig