Researchers in Canada have suggested that daily contraceptives could alter women’s brains and make them risk-takers. According to a study published in the journal Frontiers in Endocrinology, researchers from Montreal analysed the effects of oral contraceptives on the brain. Specifically, they investigated the role of naturally and synthetically produced hormones on the way fear is processed. 

“When prescribed [combined oral contraceptives], girls and women are informed of various physical side effects, for example, that the hormones they will be taking will abolish their menstrual cycle and prevent ovulation,” said study author Alexandra Brouillard, a researcher at the University of Quebec in Montreal, in a statement. Yet, the researchers claim that the pill’s effects on the brain’s development have not been thoroughly investigated. 

Therefore, the researchers from Montreal enlisted 139 women, ages 23 to 35, who were using oral contraceptives at the time, who had stopped taking the pill, or who had never used hormonal birth control. They also enlisted 41 men. 

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The team found that compared to men, the women on birth control had a “thinner ventromedial prefrontal cortex,” which is responsible for “emotion regulation, such as decreasing fear signals” in safe situations. Ms Brouillard noted that this thinning could mean an impairment of emotional regulation, which could make them risk-takers. 

However, the researchers also noted that this thinning could be reversed once consumption of the pill stops since the former birth control users did not demonstrate the same results. 

In the study, the team said that further research is still needed to confirm the findings. “The objective of our work is not to counter the use of [combined oral contraceptives], but it is important to be aware that the pill can have an effect on the brain. Our aim is to increase scientific interest in women’s health and raise awareness about early prescription of COCs and brain development, a highly unknown topic,” said Ms Brouillard. 

African-American actress and singer Mary Millben praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he stands for women and is the best leader for India and the progress of Indian citizens.

Ms Millben made the remarks while reacting to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s use of derogatory language in the state assembly to explain the role of education and women in population control.

Ms Millben said the 2024 election season has commenced across the world, in America, and certainly in India. “Election seasons present an opportunity for change, to put an end to outdated policies and non-progressive people and replace them with voices and values that inspire and truly align with all citizen’s convictions, and what is best for the collective future of a nation.”

She further said: “Many people ask why I support Prime Minister Modi, and follow India affairs so closely. The answer is simple. I love India… And I believe Prime Minister Modi is the best leader for India, and the progress of Indian citizens. He’s the best leader for the US-India relationship and for the global economic stability of the world… The PM stands for women.”

On Wednesday, Ms Millben slammed Nitish Kumar for his derogatory remarks in the state assembly. Millben then called on a “courageous” woman to “step up” and declare her candidature for Bihar Chief Minister.

Ms Millben also asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to “empower a woman to lead in Bihar.”

“After #NitishKumar Ji’s comments, I believe a courageous woman needs to step up and declare her candidacy to run for Chief Minister of Bihar. If I were a citizen of #India, I would move to Bihar and run for Chief Minister. The BJP should empower a woman to lead in Bihar. This would be the true sentiment of women’s empowerment and development in response. Or #Bihar, do as #SRK admonished in #Jawan, ‘vote’ and bring change,” Mary Millben posted on X.

Brothers and sisters of India, Namaste ??

The 2024 election season has commenced across the world, here in America and certainly in India. Election seasons present an opportunity for change, to put an end to outdated policies and non progressive people, replaced with voices and… pic.twitter.com/yaetjrhgqk

— Mary Millben (@MaryMillben) November 8, 2023

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a strong attack on Nitish Kumar over his derogatory remarks against women in relation to population control and said crass words were uttered in the state assembly and there was “no shame”.

Addressing an election rally in Madhya Pradesh, PM Modi did not name Nitish Kumar but referred to his remarks made on Tuesday.

The Bihar Chief Minister on Tuesday sparked controversy after he used derogatory language in the state assembly.

Nitish Kumar was speaking during the winter session of the Bihar Assembly. The Chief Minister made the remarks while underscoring the need for girls’ education to check population growth.

Following an uproar over his remarks, Mr Kumar on Wednesday apologised and said he was taking back his words.

“If my words were wrong, then I apologise for that. If anyone got hurt by my words, I take them back,” Mr Kumar told reporters.

His remarks also drew outrage from the National Commission for Women (NCW), which asked him to tender an unconditional apology.

One of Pablo Picasso’s masterpieces, “Woman with a Watch,” was sold at auction Wednesday night for $139.3 million by Sotheby’s in New York, the second-highest price ever achieved for the artist.

The 1932 painting depicts one of the Spanish artist’s companions and muses, the French painter Marie-Therese Walter, and had been valued at over $120 million before going on the block, according to Sotheby’s.

The painting is part of Sotheby’s special sale this week of the collection of the wealthy New York patron of the arts Emily Fisher Landau, who died this year at the age of 102.

Julian Dawes, the house’s head of impressionist and modern art, called the Picasso canvas “a masterpiece by every measure.”

“Painted in 1932 — Picasso’s ‘annus mirabilis’ — it is full of joyful, passionate abandon yet at the same time it is utterly considered and resolved,” he said.

Walter was considered Picasso’s “golden muse”, and features in another of his works going under the hammer on Thursday at Christie’s: “Femme endormie,” or “Sleeping Woman”, estimated to sell for $25-$35 million.

Walter met Picasso in Paris in 1927, when the Spaniard was still married to Russian-Ukrainian ballet dancer Olga Khokhlova, and when Walter was 17.

She also featured in “Femme assise pres d’une fenetre (Marie-Therese)”, which was sold in 2021 for $103.4 million by Christie’s auction house.

In 2021, Sotheby’s also sold another Picasso featuring Walter, for $103 million. The couple had a daughter together who died last year.

Fifty years after his death in 1973 aged 91, Picasso remains one of the most influential artists of the modern world, and is often hailed as a dynamic and creative genius.

But in the wake of the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault, his reputation has been tarnished by accusations that he exerted a violent hold over the women who shared his life and inspired his art.

Sotheby’s is hoping to net around $400 million in sales for pieces from Landau’s collection, which also includes works by Jasper Johns, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Andy Warhol.