Review
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Oyesanmi A. Fabunmi, Phiwayinkosi V. Dludla, Bongani B. Nkambule
Summary: This systematic review examines the link between oral contraceptive (OC) use and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, and assesses the impact of geographic disparities on CVD risk among OC users. The findings suggest that OC users have a significant increase in traditional cardiovascular risk factors compared to non-OC users, while there is little to no difference in endothelial dysfunction. Additionally, the magnitude of CVD risks varies across different geographic regions.
FRONTIERS IN CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE
(2023)
Review
Peripheral Vascular Disease
Natalie A. Cameron, Ciantel A. Blyler, Natalie A. Bello
Summary: Oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) are widely used as effective contraception, but they have a certain association with hypertension. Understanding the relationship between OCPs and hypertension is crucial for assessing the risks and benefits of use, and making individualized contraceptive decisions in light of the increasing prevalence of hypertension.
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Julia Strojny, Gregor Domes, Urs Fischbacher, Bernadette von Dawans
Summary: The study found that women using oral contraceptives (OC) exhibit lower levels of prosocial behavior and emotional empathy compared to naturally cycling women (NC), possibly due to lower levels of progesterone. However, no correlations were found between estradiol and behavior, suggesting that OC may modulate social behavior through progesterone.
PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Shelli Graham, David F. Archer, James A. Simon, Kathleen M. Ohleth, Brian Bernick
Summary: This document reviewed and summarized the reported outcomes of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) containing different estrogens and progesterone. The results suggested that MHT with estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4) may have a potentially better safety profile compared to other estrogens and progestins, but further research is needed due to limitations of some studies.
GYNECOLOGICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Talia N. Shirazi, Kate Levenberg, Heather Cunningham, Heather Self, Khytam Dawood, Rodrigo Cardenas, Triana L. Ortiz, Justin M. Carre, S. Marc Breedlove, David A. Puts
Summary: The study aimed to clarify the impact of progestogens and estrogens on visuospatial cognition by relating mental rotation task performance to salivary hormone concentrations. The results showed a small positive effect of within-subjects changes in progesterone on task performance, while estradiol did not significantly predict task performance.
HORMONES AND BEHAVIOR
(2021)
Review
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Belinda Pletzer, Katharina Winkler-Crepaz, Katharina Maria Hillerer
Summary: This review systematically summarizes the effects of progesterone and synthetic progestins on various aspects of neurobiology. It highlights the lack of knowledge regarding the effects of currently used progestins in hormonal contraception on cellular and molecular brain parameters. The review suggests future research on specific brain regions and proposes experiments to elucidate the actions of contraceptive progestins and their impact on emotional and cognitive functioning.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Yael Shalev Rosenthal, Adam Rosenthal, Hila Shalev Ram, Shai Ram, Gabriel Chodick, Gideon Koren
Summary: The study found that the use of oral contraceptives is associated with an increased risk of infection, with significantly higher infection rates during OC use. These results may have significant clinical and economic implications for millions of women around the world.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Emma Sofie Hogsted, Camilla Borgsted, Vibeke H. Dam, Arafat Nasser, Niklas Rye Jorgensen, Brice Ozenne, Dea Siggaard Stenbaek, Vibe G. Frokjaer
Summary: Women who use oral contraceptives show blunted cortisol dynamics compared to non-users, but there is no effect on working memory. Disrupted cortisol dynamics may play a role in the emergence of depressive symptoms in oral contraceptive users.
FRONTIERS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Elizabeth Hampson, Erin E. E. Morley, Kelly L. L. Evans, Cathleen Fleury
Summary: This study investigated the effects of oral contraceptive use on cognitive function in women and found that it may have some impact, which is related to the composition of the contraceptives used.
FRONTIERS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Sport Sciences
Laura Barba-Moreno, Rocio Cupeiro, Nuria Romero-Parra, Xanne A. K. Janse de Jonge, Ana B. Peinado
Summary: This study investigated the effects of menstrual cycle phases and oral contraceptive use on cardiorespiratory responses during exercise in women. The results showed that certain phases of the menstrual cycle and oral contraceptive cycle could lead to increased ventilatory parameters, indicating lower cardiorespiratory efficiency. However, these differences had limited clinical significance, and the impact of the menstrual cycle on submaximal exercise was minimal.
JOURNAL OF STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING RESEARCH
(2022)
Review
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Kathleen V. Casto, Timothy Jordan, Nicole Petersen
Summary: Oral contraceptives (OCs) are widely used and their potential effects on brain structure and function are being studied. Current research suggests that OCs may induce a hyperprogestogenic state in the brain.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Intira Sriprasert, Melissa Mert, Wendy J. Mack, Howard N. Hodis, Donna Shoupe
Summary: The study showed that oral estradiol plus vaginal progesterone leads to increased endometrial thickness and a higher risk of endometrial hyperplasia, suggesting the need for further investigation into alternative doses or frequencies of administration for adequate endometrial protection from estrogen therapy in postmenopausal women.
Article
Hematology
Doris Barcellona, Francesco Marongiu, Elvira Grandone
Summary: The development of oral contraceptives (OCs) started in 1921 and faced challenges in understanding and managing the risk of venous thrombosis. Second-generation and later third-generation OCs were found to have increased thrombotic risk. In the 2000s, fourth-generation OCs with natural estrogens and a progestin were introduced. Research also provided insights into risk factors associated with OCs use.
SEMINARS IN THROMBOSIS AND HEMOSTASIS
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Zhi Xia, Jian Xiao, Qiong Chen
Summary: Ovarian sex steroids can modulate new vessel formation, with progesterone regulating downstream factors with angiogenic or antiangiogenic effects. Synthetic progestins, structurally related to progesterone, have been used in studies and may lead to unequal actions, contributing to conflicting observations in research on progestogens.
Review
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Kelly L. Klump, Alaina M. Di Dio
Summary: Endogenous ovarian hormones may increase the risk of binge eating in females through gene x hormone interactions and hormonally induced increases in genetic influences. Combined oral contraceptives (COCs), which mimic the riskiest hormonal environment for binge eating, are commonly used by women. Preliminary studies suggest that COCs may increase the risk of binge eating and related phenotypes, especially in genetically vulnerable women. Larger and more systematic studies are needed to explore the relationship between COCs and binge eating, with the goal of advancing personalized medicine.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
(2022)
Editorial Material
Neurosciences
Remi Gau, Stephanie Noble, Katja Heuer, Katherine L. Bottenhorn, Isil P. Bilgin, Yu-Fang Yang, Julia M. Huntenburg, Johanna M. M. Bayer, Richard A. I. Bethlehem, Shawn A. Rhoads, Christoph Vogelbacher, Valentina Borghesani, Elizabeth Levitis, Hao-Ting Wang, Sofie Van den Bossche, Xenia Kobeleva, Jon Haitz Legarreta, Samuel Guay, Selim Melvin Atay, Gael P. Varoquaux, Dorien C. Huijser, Malin S. Sandstrom, Peer Herholz, Samuel A. Nastase, AmanPreet Badhwar, Guillaume Dumas, Simon Schwab, Stefano Moia, Michael Dayan, Yasmine Bassil, Paula P. Brooks, Matteo Mancini, James M. Shine, David O'Connor, Xihe Xie, Davide Poggiali, Patrick Friedrich, Anibal S. Heinsfeld, Lydia Riedl, Roberto Toro, Cesar Caballero-Gaudes, Anders Eklund, Kelly G. Garner, Christopher R. Nolan, Damion V. Demeter, Fernando A. Barrios, Junaid S. Merchant, Elizabeth A. McDevitt, Robert Oostenveld, R. Cameron Craddock, Ariel Rokem, Andrew Doyle, Satrajit S. Ghosh, Aki Nikolaidis, Olivia W. Stanley, Eneko Urunuela
Summary: Brainhack is an innovative meeting format that promotes scientific collaboration and education in an open, inclusive environment, complementing conventional formats to augment scientific progress.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ben D. Fulcher, Aurina Arnatkeviciute, Alex Fornito
Summary: The conventional gene category enrichment analysis applied to brain-wide atlas data results in biased outcomes, with potential false-positive associations. To address this issue, the authors introduce a flexible ensemble-based null model framework to enable appropriate inference in gene-category enrichment analysis.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Aurina Arnatkeviciute, Ben D. Fulcher, Stuart Oldham, Jeggan Tiego, Casey Paquola, Zachary Gerring, Kevin Aquino, Ziarih Hawi, Beth Johnson, Gareth Ball, Marieke Klein, Gustavo Deco, Barbara Franke, Mark A. Bellgrove, Alex Fornito
Summary: The study shows that genes play a significant and preferential role in influencing the strength of connections between brain network hubs, which are characterized by high metabolic costs.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gustavo Deco, Morten L. Kringelbach, Aurina Arnatkeviciute, Stuart Oldham, Kristina Sabaroedin, Nigel C. Rogasch, Kevin M. Aquino, Alex Fornito
Summary: Transcriptional variations in excitatory and inhibitory receptor gene expression play a key role in shaping complex neuronal dynamics, yielding both ignition-like dynamics and a wide variance of regional activity time scales. This study demonstrates the viability of using transcriptomic data to constrain models of large-scale brain function.
Article
Neurosciences
Aurina Arnatkeviciute, Ben D. Fulcher, Mark A. Bellgrove, Alex Fornito
Summary: The integration of modern neuroimaging methods with genetically informative designs and data sheds light on the molecular mechanisms underlying the structural and functional organization of the human connectome. Studies investigating the genetic basis of human brain network structure and function through quantifying phenotypic heritability, identifying specific DNA variants, and analyzing correlations between imaging phenotypes and gene expression profiles show that anatomical connectivity is under stronger genetic influence than functional connectivity, with certain regions and connections being more genetically controlled than others. This combination of imaging and genetics can help understand how genes drive brain dysfunction in different clinical disorders.
Article
Biology
Ross D. Markello, Aurina Arnatkeviciute, Jean-Baptiste Poline, Ben D. Fulcher, Alex Fornito, Bratislav Misic
Summary: The study developed the abagen toolbox for analyzing transcriptomic data and found that the choice of processing pipeline significantly influences research outcomes when using the Allen Human Brain Atlas. The results show that processing steps affecting gene normalization have the greatest impact on downstream statistical inferences and conclusions.
Editorial Material
Neurosciences
James M. Shine, Aurina Arnatkeviciute, Alex Fornito, Ben D. Fulcher
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY-COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Stuart Oldham, Ben D. Fulcher, Kevin Aquino, Aurina Arnatkeviciute, Casey Paquola, Rosita Shishegar, Alex Fornito
Summary: The complex connectivity of nervous systems is influenced by competitive selection pressures, with the aim of minimizing wiring costs and supporting adaptive function. Recent modeling work suggests that stochastic processes, considering the trade-offs between the cost and value of each connection, can replicate many topological properties of human brain connectomes. However, these models struggle to capture spatial network properties. The findings highlight the significant role of genetics in shaping macroscopic brain connectivity and suggest that stochastic models can provide only a partial explanation of connectome organization.
Review
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Ramune Griksiene, Rasa Monciunskaite, Osvaldas Ruksenas
Summary: This review focuses on the effects of progestins on the brain, summarizing current knowledge from human behavioral and neuroimaging studies combined with evidence from animal research. Understanding this information is highly relevant for improving women's mental health and making informed choices regarding contraception or treatment.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Mia Moses, Jeggan Tiego, Ditte Demontis, G. Bragi Walters, Hreinn Stefansson, Kari Stefansson, Anders D. Borglum, Aurina Arnatkeviciute, Mark A. Bellgrove
Summary: This study examined three potential endophenotypes for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): working memory function, response inhibition, and reaction time variability. The results showed that higher genetic risk for ADHD was associated with higher ADHD traits, as well as poorer working memory performance and increased reaction time variability. Lower working memory performance, poorer response inhibition, and increased reaction time variability were associated with more pronounced ADHD traits. Working memory and reaction time variability partially mediated the relationship between genetic risk for ADHD and ADHD traits, explaining 14% and 16% of the association, respectively.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ramune Griksiene, Rimante Gaizauskaite, Indre Pretkelyte, Markus Hausmann
Summary: The present study assessed the functional cerebral asymmetries of visual working memory (VWM) in relation to language lateralization. The results showed that men and women performed more accurately and faster in the right visual half-field for VWM tasks. In the lexical decision task, a right visual half-field advantage was observed in performance accuracy. There was no relationship between lateralization in VWM and lexical decision. VWM performance accuracy decreased significantly with increasing asymmetry, especially for women.
Review
Neurosciences
Aurina Arnatkeviciute, Ross D. Markello, Ben D. Fulcher, Bratislav Misic, Alex Fornito
Summary: In this article, the authors reviewed recent work on investigating the molecular correlates of brain organization by integrating neuroimaging data with transcriptomic measures. They discussed the methodological choices and considerations in different phases of imaging transcriptomic analyses and provided an overview of freely available open-source toolboxes for standardized approaches. The aim is to promote the development of reproducible methods in this rapidly growing field.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Aurina Arnatkeviciute, Mathieu Lemire, Claire Morrison, Michael Mooney, Peter Ryabinin, Nicole M. Roslin, Molly Nikolas, James Coxon, Jeggan Tiego, Ziarih Hawi, Alex Fornito, Walter Henrik, Jean-Luc Martinot, Marie-Laure Paillere Martinot, Eric Artiges, Hugh Garavan, Joel Nigg, Naomi P. Friedman, Christie Burton, Russell Schachar, Jennifer Crosbie, Mark A. Bellgrove
Summary: Deficits in effective executive function are associated with psychiatric disorders and impact everyday functioning. The genetic architecture of these traits is not well understood. This study identified genetic influences on inhibitory control using a genome wide association study, but larger sample sizes are needed for more robust associations. The results also support the use of executive function measures as endophenotypes for neuropsychiatric disorders.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Review
Neurosciences
Aurina Arnatkeviciute, Ben D. Fulcher, Mark A. Bellgrove, Alex Fornito
Summary: Noninvasive neuroimaging is a powerful tool for studying brain structure and function in vivo, and recent developments in gene expression atlases provide opportunities to understand transcriptional correlates of neural phenotypes. This supports the utility of transcriptional atlases in testing hypotheses about disease-related changes in neuroimaging phenotypes.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: GLOBAL OPEN SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Livija Sarauskyte, Rasa Monciunskaite, Ramune Griksiene
Summary: Sex has a significant impact on the perception of emotional expressions. This study investigated the effect of sex and emotion on emotion recognition using artificial faces. The results showed that females recognized sadness better than males, and fear, disgust, and anger evoked higher amplitudes of late positive potential in the left parietal region compared to neutral expression. Females also demonstrated higher values of global field power as compared to males.
BRAIN AND COGNITION
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Farrah N. Madison, Verner P. Bingman, Tom Smulders, Christine R. Lattin
Summary: Although research on the avian hippocampus has been limited, it is crucial for understanding its evolution and changes over time. The avian hippocampus plays important roles in spatial cognition as well as regulating anxiety, approach-avoidance behavior, and stress responses. Future research should focus on elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms, including endocrinology, to resolve outstanding questions about avian hippocampal function and organization.
HORMONES AND BEHAVIOR
(2024)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Judith A. H. Smit, Riet Vooijs, Peter Lindenburg, Alexander T. Baugh, Wouter Halfwerk
Summary: This study investigates the effects of urbanization on hormone levels in tungara frogs and found that urban frogs and forest frogs have different endocrine phenotypes. Exposure to urban noise and light pollution led to an increase in testosterone and a decrease in corticosterone in urban frogs, while forest frogs showed no endocrine response to sensory pollutants. These results suggest that urbanization can modulate hormone levels and influence behavior in frogs.
HORMONES AND BEHAVIOR
(2024)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Hannah D. Fulenwider, Yangmiao Zhang, Andrey E. Ryabinin
Summary: Social hierarchies have significant effects on overall health of individuals in animal groups, particularly the lowest-ranking individuals. Tube test can be used to determine social rank in male and female mice, and the complex interactions between social rank, sex, environment, and testing length influence peptide levels.
HORMONES AND BEHAVIOR
(2024)
