How the brain changes during pregnancy
'Baby brain' has some scientific basis but not in the way we first thought
So many things change for a woman during pregnancy – and one of them could be her brain.
New research suggests that "mommy brain" could be "a real thing", said The Washington Post, but the process is quite at odds with the "pop culture conception" of young mothers becoming "cognitively fuzzy and absent-minded".
So what are the changes that occur, why do they happen and what does this discovery mean?
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'Sweeping reorganisation'
The brain undergoes a "sweeping reorganisation" when a woman is expecting a baby, said The Guardian, and few areas are untouched by the process. Regular MRI scans from before conception until two years after childbirth revealed "widespread reorganisation" in the mother's brain, said the paper.
Some regions of the brain, "especially those involved in social and emotional processing", got smaller, possibly "undergoing a fine-tuning process in preparation for parenting", said The New York Times.
People can "bristle" when they hear that "grey matter volume decreases in pregnancy", said Professor Emily Jacobs, a researcher on the study from the University of California, Santa Barbara. But this change "probably reflects the fine tuning of neural circuits, not unlike the cortical thinning that happens during puberty".
Jacobs compared this process to Michelangelo's masterpiece, "David". "You start off with this chunk of marble, and you chip away – that pruning can reveal the underlying beauty," she said.
While grey matter decreases, there were significant increases in white matter, the nerve fibres that connect neurons and help different brain regions communicate. All of this remodelling, or neuroplasticity, took place across the brain, at three times the rate seen in eight non-pregnant women who also had their brains scanned over the same period.
Maternal fine-tuning
This "probably enables the onset of certain maternal behaviours", said New Scientist. This has already been seen in rodents, where increases in steroid hormones during pregnancy "trigger brain changes" that "enhance the mother's sensitivity to smells and sounds from her pups".
A similar process may be happening in humans, according to several studies. One team found that the scale of change in grey matter volume corresponds with the extent of parental attachment.
'Linchpin of human existence'
Pregnancy is a "linchpin of human existence", said The Washington Post, but the maternal brain has been "understudied and underappreciated" until now. Several experts have welcomed the progress – Gina Rippon, from Aston University in Birmingham, told The Guardian it was "a truly heroic" study.
Some of the brain developments were still present two years after childbirth, "hinting at cellular changes in the organ", which could be permanent. Therefore, said Dr Elizabeth Chrastil, from the University of California, Irvine, the study "really opens up more questions than it answers" and "we're really just starting to scratch the surface".
New studies mean that deeper scratching is already under way. A greater understanding of the brain's "remodelling" could explain several pregnancy-related behaviours, said New Scientist, as well as helping people at risk of mental health conditions.
A new series of scans is now being collected from other pregnant women to explore the dangers of postnatal depression and the connection between pre-eclampsia and dementia. Scientists also want to understand why pregnancy can reduce migraines and indications of multiple sclerosis.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
-
What 'day one rights' could mean for employees and their bosses
The Explainer Staff set to get protections from day one of a new job
By Marc Shoffman, The Week UK Published
-
What are the options for covering long-term care?
The explainer Nursing homes are expensive, but there are smart ways to start saving
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Slain journalists are getting a one-of-a-kind memorial
In the Spotlight The memorial will be located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Psychedelic drugs and treating mental illness
The Explainer Scientists claim hallucinogenics could help treat depression and anxiety, but not everyone is convinced
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
The EEE virus is spreading in the US
The Explainer The mosquito strikes again
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Young adults are in a mental health crisis. Why is little being done?
In the spotlight The kids are, in fact, not at all alright.
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
The battle for abortion buffer zones
The Explainer A 2023 law banning protests around clinics remains unenforced amid dispute over 'silent prayer'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Diabetic amputations surge among Black and Latino Americans
There is an epidemic of diabetes-related complications, and minority communities are being hit the hardest
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Neurocosmetics: the beauty trend blending mental health and skin care
The Explainer Could a moisturizer really shift your mood?
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Brexit, Matt Hancock and black swans: five takeaways from Covid inquiry report
The Explainer UK was 'unprepared' for pandemic and government 'failed' citizens with flawed response, says damning report
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is sickle cell anaemia?
The Explainer The UK has approved the use of a new drug to treat a disease that predominantly affects people of colour
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published