Pregnancy modifies a woman's brain

• April 24, 2024

Pregnancy involves radical hormonal changes and biological adaptations, but a new study reveals that the Pregnancy modifies a woman's brain.

A study conducted by researchers at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) shows, for the first time, how motherhood causes lasting alterations in the structure of the brain, probably aimed at improving the ability of the mother to protect and relate to the baby.

The research is the first to show that thepregnancy modifies a woman's brain , at least until two years after the birth.

Through the analysis of magnetic resonance images it has been possible to observe how in women who have experienced their first pregnancy the volume of gray matter in regions involved in social relationships is reduced.

Part of these regions are activated when the woman observes the image of her baby, so that the changes probably correspond to a specialization of the brain to face the challenges of motherhood ", explains Agustín Ballesteros, collaborator of the study.

To carry out the research, the authors compared magnetic resonance images of 25 pregnant women before and after delivery, male partners of 19, and a control group of 20 women who were not and have never been pregnant and the male couples of 17 of them.

The reduction of gray matter occurs in all pregnant women studied and is unique to them, which indicates that it is probably a change due to the biological processes of pregnancy, and not changes related to the birth of the baby.

The research has taken into account the variations in both women who have followed fertility treatments and in women who have become pregnant naturally, and the reductions observed in the gray matter have been practically identical for both groups.

Although the pregnancy modifies a woman's brain, no evidence has been found that causes any change in memory or other intellectual functions in the women studied, therefore, it is believed that the loss of gray matter does not imply any cognitive deficit, but quite the opposite.

Video Medicine: Does Pregnancy Alter the Brain? (April 2024).