Henrik Normannseth

• Normannseth, Henrik; Andersson, Stein & Hatlestad-Hall, Christoffer (2026). BIDS-formatted resting-state and loudness dependence of auditory evoked potentials (LDAEP) EEG dataset from healthy women. Data in Brief. 67. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2026.112940. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Here, we describe a publicly available electroencephalography (EEG) dataset recorded from 69 healthy women (aged 19–40). Data were acquired using a 64-channel BioSemi ActiveTwo system (10–10 electrode positions) at a sampling rate of 2048 Hz. The dataset includes two EEG paradigms: (1) a resting-state recording consisting of four minutes with eyes closed followed by four minutes with eyes open (available for all 69 participants), and (2) a loudness dependence of auditory evoked potentials (LDAEP) paradigm comprising 1000 Hz tones at five intensity levels (55–95 dB SPL; available for 54 participants). The dataset also includes demographic variables, hormonal contraceptive (HC) usage information, menstrual cycle data, Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) scores, and UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale subscale scores. The data are organized according to the Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) specification and hosted on OpenNeuro. The dataset is suitable for research on resting-state EEG, LDAEP, hormone-related variation in brain electrophysiology, and machine learning applications.

• Normannseth, Henrik; Hatlestad-Hall, Christoffer; Rygvold, Trine Waage; Hadzic, Alena & Andersson, Stein (2025). Hormonal contraceptive use is associated with reduced central serotonergic activity indexed by the loudness dependence of auditory evoked potentials. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 19. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1647425. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Objective Hormonal contraceptives (HCs) are linked to mood disturbances, but the neurobiological mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigated whether HC use is associated with altered central serotonergic activity, using the loudness dependence of auditory evoked potentials (LDAEP). Methods Fifty-four healthy women (30 current HC users and 24 non-users) completed EEG recordings to assess LDAEP. Depressive symptoms were quantified using the Beck Depression Inventory-II. Between-group analyses were controlled for age and depressive symptoms, and effects of menstrual cycle phase, HC type, and mood-related side effects were also examined. Results HC users showed significantly steeper LDAEP slopes than non-users across components (all p  ≤ 0.028) consistent with reduced central serotonergic activity. This remained significant controlling for age and depressive symptoms. No significant effects of menstrual cycle phase or HC type, but HC users reporting adverse mood effects had more somatic symptoms, without corresponding LDAEP differences. Conclusion This study is, to our knowledge, among the first to explicitly test an a priori hypothesis that HC use is associated with reduced serotonergic activity indexed by LDAEP in healthy women, and shows that HC use is linked to attenuated central serotonergic activity independent of mood symptoms. These findings underscore the role of sex hormones in shaping serotonergic function and may explain individual variability in mood and antidepressant response.

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