---
title: Does taking hormone contraceptives change how well women remember or think in 3D?
description: Women taking hormone contraceptives were better at remembering objects than naturally cycling women. There was no difference in 3D spatial thinking between th
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/the-effects-of-hormone-contraceptives-and-menstruation-on-object-memory-and-2023/
---

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- Does taking hormone contraceptives change how well women remember or think in 3D?

Survey study, 2023

# Does taking hormone contraceptives change how well women remember or think in 3D?

Women taking hormone contraceptives were better at remembering objects than naturally cycling women. There was no difference in 3D spatial thinking between the groups.

 Early or limited evidence

Young women using hormone contraceptives and naturally cycling women

## What they did

Cross-sectional study comparing women taking hormone contraceptives with naturally cycling women on two cognitive tasks: an object memory task where they identified objects they had seen before, and a spatial ability task where they mentally rotated 3D shapes.

## What they found

Women on hormone contraceptives performed significantly better at identifying novel objects compared to naturally cycling women. No significant difference was found on the mental rotation task. Among naturally cycling women, performance did not differ between those menstruating during testing and those not menstruating.

## What it means for you

Hormone contraceptives may help with object memory, possibly because they maintain steady hormone levels rather than the ups and downs of natural menstrual cycles. They do not appear to affect spatial thinking abilities.

## About the study

Original title The Effects of Hormone Contraceptives and Menstruation on Object Memory and Spatial Ability in Young Women Authors Thrasher CA, Otto L, Harburger LL Journal Psychological reports Year 2023 Study design Survey study Read the paper [doi.org/10.1177/00332941221079608](https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941221079608)

## Topics

[Cognition, concentration and memory](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-cognition/)[Relationships and partners](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-relationships/)[Adolescents and young people](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-adolescents/)

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