Baby Brain

Pregnancy alters woman’s brain for at least two years, a research has revealed.

11:30 22 December 2016

A new study involving 25 first-time mums has found that a woman’s brain is altered by pregnancy. Researchers from Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and Leiden University found that the structural brain changes, which lasted up to two years after giving birth, were akin to those seen during adolescence.

 

For their study, researchers looked at the brain scans of women before they become pregnant, soon after they have given birth, and two years later to assess any brain changes. They found “substantial” reduction in the volume grey matter in areas of the brain involved in social interactions used for attributing thoughts and feelings to other people. Researchers believe that such changes help mothers in recognising the needs of their child, becoming more attached to their baby and being more aware of potential social threats.

 

Elseline Hoekzema, study author and postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Psychology at Leiden University in the Netherlands, said: "We can speculate that the volume reductions observed in pregnancy represent a process of specialisation or further maturation of this Theory of Mind network that, in some way, serves an adaptive purpose for pending motherhood."