We’ve all claimed ‘baby brain’ after putting our handbag in the fridge instead of the milk. But now scientists know more about how the brain’s structure changes because of pregnancy.
As if the nausea, heartburn, swollen ankles, and exhaustion weren’t enough, new research published this month has shed some light on the weird changes that occur in women’s brains when they’re expecting a baby.
Researchers at universities in Spain and the Netherlands used computer imaging (MRI scans) to measure how the brain’s structure changes because of pregnancy. The bad news is that women’s brains really do shrink when they have a baba on the way. The good news is that it actually makes itself more efficient. Well, that’s a relief.
The study showed a loss of grey matter in the front and temporal lobe regions of the brain – the areas responsible for a variety of tasks, including the ability to interact with others. Grey matter loss also occurs in specific areas of a new mum’s brain that help humans to understand other’s feelings, beliefs, non-verbal signals, and form attachments to other people.
Now, that may sound like pregnancy turns women into unfeeling loners but don’t worry, there’s a very good reason for it all… The researchers found that women who experience grey matter loss in these areas actually have greater feelings of attachment and fewer negative emotions towards their babies. In other words, new mama’s brains become super-focused and powerful when it comes to their newborn.
Dr Robert Froemke, a neuroscientist at New York University’s Langone Medical Centre, told Healthline that we shouldn’t be alarmed by the thoughts of a shrinking brain:
“There’s a difference between ‘an apparent reduction in grey matter’ and the brain shrinking. The brain itself doesn’t shrink. It’s not at all clear what actually goes on when grey matter is reduced.
Think about this as a form of ‘spring cleaning.’ It’s making things more organised, streamlined, coherent to prepare mothers for the complexity and urgency of childcare.
If neurons are closer together, or neural connections reorganised to disregard irrelevant synapses and preserve important synapses, or otherwise able to more effectively, reliably, and rapidly process critical information, it’s easier to imagine why this might make sense, and help the maternal brain respond to the needs of her baby.”
The researchers say that women’s brains maintain this new structure for at least two years after they give birth. So if you’re not exactly feeling like your old pre-baby self yet at least you now know why.
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