Why does pregnancy make us stupid? Pregnancy Caused Long-Term Changes in Brain Structure Does the Brain Shrink During Pregnancy.

22.11.2019

A team of researchers from Spain and Holland showed that pregnancy causes changes in the structure of the gray matter of the brain that persist for at least two years after birth. published in the magazine Nature Neuroscience, its contents are briefly described in the editorial material of the magazine Science.

During pregnancy, the level of sex steroid hormones changes greatly: for example, the amount of estrogens produced during pregnancy usually exceeds the total amount of estrogens produced in a woman’s body during all other periods of her life. However, previous studies have shown that changes in the level of sex steroid hormones can cause structural and functional changes in the nervous tissue of the brain. For example, during puberty, the production of sex hormones causes a large-scale reorganization of the brain, and in adults, changes in the level of steroid sex hormones lead to neural changes. It is therefore not surprising that in rodents and other animals, pregnancy has been shown to cause changes in neural tissue at multiple levels, including changes in dendritic morphology, neuronal division rates, and gene expression. In humans, however, almost no systematic studies of this kind have been conducted. What is known is that in the later stages of pregnancy the size of the pituitary gland increases and the overall volume of the brain decreases.

The authors of the new paper used magnetic resonance imaging to track changes in the structure of the gray matter of the brain in 25 women who were pregnant for the first time. Their brains were scanned before pregnancy and after childbirth (after different periods of time: from three weeks to several months). The analysis also included 20 nulliparous, non-pregnant women and, to exclude the influence of parenthood (and not specifically pregnancy), 19 men who became fathers for the first time and 17 men without children. All of these groups underwent brain scans at the same time intervals as the test group of pregnant women.

It turned out that all the women who gave birth experienced very similar changes in the volume of the gray matter of the brain - so similar that all the women participating in the study could be easily classified into parous and nulliparous solely based on the results of their brain scans. The changes were mostly concentrated in areas of the brain involved in social skills - such as understanding other people's emotions and intentions from their faces and actions. The hippocampus, an area of the brain that plays a key role in memory formation, also decreased in volume. No such changes were observed in any of the control groups. However, the decrease in hippocampal volume did not affect the memory of women who gave birth: they coped with memory tasks no worse than before pregnancy. The only thing that the researchers were able to notice was a slight deterioration in verbal memory (however, the level of differences turned out to be statistically insignificant).

Areas of the brain responsible for social skills (a) and areas of the brain that have decreased in volume after pregnancy (b)

Hoekzema et al. 2016

Using a standard test to measure the strength of the attachment women gave birth to their children, the researchers also found that the strength of the attachment correlated with how much the woman's brain changed during pregnancy: the greater the changes, the stronger the attachment. Scientists also looked at how women's brains responded to photographs of their own children and photographs of other people's children (how much the brain's response to these stimuli differed also serves as an indicator of the strength of attachment). It turned out that about 30 percent of those areas of the brain that are selectively activated in response to photographs of one’s own (and not other people’s) children coincide with areas of the brain that changed in volume during pregnancy.

Two years after these studies, 11 of the 25 mothers - those who had not become pregnant again during this time - had another magnetic resonance imaging brain scan. It turned out that these women still had reduced gray matter volume in the same areas of the brain - with the exception of the hippocampus, the volume of which returned to its original state. The preserved changes were also sufficient to determine on their basis alone whether the woman had been pregnant in the past or not.

It is not yet clear what exactly is causing the decrease in the volume of gray matter - a change in the number of synapses or neurons, a restructuring of the dendritic structure, or a change in the blood supply to the brain. As the authors note, the decrease in gray matter volume observed during puberty is associated (at least in part) with the so-called synaptic pruning: reducing the number of synapses to remove redundant connections and increase the efficiency of neural networks. It is possible that similar processes occur during pregnancy, increasing the efficiency and specialization of the work of individual parts of the brain. Some studies, for example, have shown that pregnant women's ability to recognize faces and emotions improves. The authors suggest that this may be related to the changes in the areas of the brain responsible for social skills that they observed in their study.

Sofia Dolotovskaya

"Pregnancy of the brain" refers to the short-term memory loss and forgetfulness that women may experience during pregnancy. Does pregnancy really affect a woman's memory and mental abilities or is it a myth?

During pregnancy, a woman goes through many emotional and physical turmoil. One of them is partial memory loss and sluggish thinking, which is called “pregnancy brain” or “placenta brain.” While experts are skeptical about this symptom, most women claim that they actually experienced a similar condition during pregnancy. It is not surprising that a woman forgets even simple daily tasks while she is struggling with a host of other problems (nausea, constipation, mood swings, etc.) caused by rising hormones. Let's figure out whether “brain pregnancy” is a myth, or an integral part of pregnancy.

When does brain pregnancy occur?

As mentioned, "pregnancy of the brain" is a condition of a pregnant woman when she loses clarity of thought and develops problems with concentration and memory. Most women complain of similar symptoms during the first and third trimester. Some people complain of this condition after childbirth. However, the results of studies on the relationship between memory and pregnancy are very contradictory. Thus, there is not enough evidence about the reality of this condition, but one cannot completely deny the physical, emotional and mental changes in the female body associated with pregnancy.

Possible reasons

The brain fog that women may experience during pregnancy can be caused by a number of reasons.

Raging hormones. During pregnancy, the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone fluctuate greatly. This causes mood swings, drowsiness, fatigue, headaches, and nervousness. Additionally, the hormonal surge in the early weeks may change the way the brain processes sensory information, especially the sense of smell. For this reason, pregnant women react strongly to certain odors. It is assumed that if hormones can change the perception of odors, then they can have the same effect on memory.
Increased levels of stress and anxiety. It is quite natural that the thoughts of expectant mothers are occupied with worry about the child and the upcoming birth. However, you need to distract yourself from anxious thoughts.
Insomnia. Sleep disturbance is one of the most common complaints among women during pregnancy. Both men and women need to get 7-8 hours of good sleep per night in order to feel healthy physically and mentally. Sleep disruption during pregnancy can lead to mental dullness.
Changes in the brain. In 1996, a report was published that the brains of pregnant women shrink during the third semester. Another study conducted in 2002 found that women's brains shrink by about 4% during pregnancy. Typically, in the first few weeks after birth, the brain regains its original size. In some cases, this process can take up to 6 months. Scientists are not sure what causes these changes in the brain, but they suspect changes in cellular metabolism are responsible. Clearly, brain shrinkage during pregnancy is not associated with cell loss. But it is precisely the process of restructuring connections between brain cells that may be related to “brain pregnancy.”
Evolutionary development. This is another theory that states that "brain pregnancy" helps a woman focus on her baby and ignore distractions.
Self-hypnosis. Many experts dismiss the existence of brain pregnancy and view it as a psychological phenomenon. They are sure that many women are aware of the existence of such a condition and firmly believe in it.

Positive effects of pregnancy on the brain

It has been noted that from the moment of conception, the brain of a pregnant woman undergoes many changes. The preparatory process for the upcoming birth and motherhood takes place in it. In addition, some areas of the brain may change. Those. As some parts of the brain shrink, others grow, particularly in the forebrain, which is responsible for logical thinking and problem-solving ability.

Some animal experiments have shown that pregnant females have better memory, become bolder, and become better hunters. Professor Helen Christensen, director of the Center for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University, believes pregnancy may have a positive effect on brain function. Thus, with pregnancy, a woman can count on better mental abilities, as she must be more vigilant.

Disclaimer: This article is written for informational purposes and should not be construed as a substitute for professional medical advice.

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Experts from the University of London explained the reasons why women become more emotional during pregnancy, reason less logically and have memory problems. It turns out that it's not just a matter of changing hormonal levels. The activity of the cerebral hemispheres also changes. The right hemisphere, which is responsible for emotional perception, begins to behave more actively, which explains all the oddities in behavior.

This thesis was presented at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society by Victoria Bourne, who is the author of this scientific work.

This study expands on previous research showing that changes in learning speed and subtle memory declines that a pregnant woman experiences help prepare her for future changes in cognitive behavior. As you know, such changes await every woman in labor after birth.

Employees of the American Psychological Association even calculated that the volume of a woman's brain during her pregnancy. True, after the birth of a child, the brain gradually returns to its previous parameters. However, reducing the size of the brain has no effect on changes in the emotional background.

The interesting changes that occur in emotional processing during pregnancy are intended to best prepare the expectant mother for contact with the baby after birth. And this happens due to increased activity of the right hemisphere of the human brain.

To confirm their hypothesis, the authors of the work recruited about 40 pregnant and recently given birth women for the experiment. They assessed their neuropsychological performance by observing the negative or positive expressions of chimeric faces.

During the test, all volunteers were asked to observe the expressions of faces that consisted of two halves. One half of the face did not express any emotions, the second smiled or, conversely, had an aggressive expression. It turned out that pregnant women paid special attention to the part of the face that expressed emotions.

Women remained especially sensitive to the manifestation of emotions after the birth of a child. It is this fact that scientists explain the tendency of a young mother to interpret her baby's facial expressions in a more negative direction during postpartum depression.

An increase in activity in the areas of the right hemisphere of the brain that are responsible for emotional perception is necessary in order to establish the closest possible connection with the fetus already at the stage of pregnancy. But it is precisely this increased activity that interferes with logical thinking and worsens a woman’s memory.

Scientists note: in appearance, it seems that the expectant mother is becoming stupid before her eyes - she becomes irritable, capricious, cannot think sensibly and forgets many things on the go. In fact, she is preparing for a much more important task - to establish a strong emotional connection with her unborn child. And memory and logic will return over time.

Memory deterioration and some absent-mindedness? Scientists have explained what happens to a woman’s brain during this period, and whether she should worry about the appearance.

Perhaps you have already come across such a concept as the “pregnant brain”. This is when memory lapses appear in pregnant women, which most likely did not exist before, and the woman becomes distracted and forgetful. For example, you put milk in the cabinet instead of the refrigerator, you go into the room a hundred times, forgetting why, you look for a mobile phone that you are talking on at the same moment, you often lose things in an unknown place, you leave the water tap on, you let the dog out and forget to let him in back, etc.

(It’s especially funny when an older child somewhere in a store explains to a salesperson that his mom has a “pregnant brain,” which is why she’s weird. Thank you, kids. Although, of course, it’s hard to argue.)

It’s a common thing - your brain starts to boil and you do God knows what. It also has another name - mamnesia.

Good news is the norm, or rather, it's just biology. Research shows that the brain may shrink during pregnancy. Not that you necessarily need scientific confirmation, but it's nice to know that you're not the only one with weirdness, right?

A recent study published on nature.com found that pregnancy causes changes in brain structure and size that do not recover after childbirth.

In the study, women had MRIs of their brains before and after pregnancy. Postpartum scans clearly showed changes in the brain, especially a decrease in the amount of gray matter. The hippocampus, which is responsible for memory, also decreases. Therefore, we women are literally losing our heads! Well, that explains a lot.

Changes in gray matter remained the same two years after the study. Who knows, maybe the brain never returns to normal. All that remains is to change the name from “pregnant brain” to “mom brain” and continue to live your life, forever accepting your “underdeveloped” state. (On the other hand, there are studies that suggest that)

But, there is a good side. Pregnancy also affects areas of the brain that control feelings, empathy, and perspective. Scientists believe that this strengthens the maternal instinct and contributes to the formation of mother's responsibility and connection with the child.

So if you feel like your brain has turned into scrambled eggs, you're not alone! Now we at least know who to blame for our absent-mindedness and forgetfulness during pregnancy. Thank you kids, we forgive you.

Greetings, reader of s-mind.ru! Pregnancy not only changes our body, but also affects our brain and emotional state. It can cause amazing ideas to pop into our heads or new emotions that we haven't experienced before. Here are some interesting examples of exactly how pregnancy changes our brain.

English scientists have found that during pregnancy, brain volume decreases by about 6%. Perhaps this is what explains the forgetfulness and absent-mindedness that expectant mothers complain about. But don’t worry, within 24 weeks after birth the brain volume is restored to its previous size.

Often, during pregnancy, women begin to be more wary of men, viewing them as a hidden threat. This feature arose as a result of evolution, in which vulnerable pregnant females became more vigilant towards males who may pose a threat of harm to her or the unborn baby.

During pregnancy, the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which is responsible for multitasking, strengthens its work; this is necessary so that young mothers can keep up with everything and cope with all the problems that arise.

During pregnancy, a woman’s emotions intensify many times over, this is due to the hormonal changes that the women’s body undergoes. However, after childbirth and during breastfeeding, a woman’s body produces oxytocin, which makes her calmer and more relaxed.

Recent studies show that after childbirth, those women who experienced constant positive emotions towards their child experienced structural changes in the brain that improved its ability to process information and intellectual abilities improved.

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Does a woman's brain shrink during pregnancy?

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Pregnancy changes a woman's brain for at least two years

While waiting for a baby, the volume of gray matter in the expectant mother's brain decreases, which helps the woman feel connected to the baby and prepare for motherhood.

A team of scientists analyzed changes in the brains of 25 women who were preparing to become mothers. Experts suggest that structural changes in the brain help women better respond to the baby's needs. They note that changes in gray matter volume are observed during pregnancy, as well as in the first two years of motherhood.

Fluctuations in hormone concentrations

During pregnancy, the balance of sex hormones is disrupted and physical and physiological changes occur in the body, researchers say.

A team of scientists from the Independent University of Barcelona and the University of Leiden analyzed changes in the brains of 25 women preparing to become mothers for the first time.

They had their first MRI a few weeks before pregnancy, the second a few months after giving birth, and the third two years later.

The study also included 19 new fathers, 17 childless men and 20 women who had never been pregnant.

Scientists tracked a decrease in gray matter volume in areas of the brain of pregnant study participants responsible for social cognition and the ability to understand others.

According to the researchers, these changes indicate that during pregnancy and for some time after it, the bond between a woman and her child strengthens significantly.

Researchers believe this provides mothers with a number of benefits, such as helping them understand their baby's needs, spot potential external threats, and strengthen the mother-baby bond.

When simply comparing images to

Pregnancy changes brain structure for 2 years

The latest research has proven that the structure of the female brain changes greatly during the first pregnancy, and this happens for at least 2 years. In particular, the amount of gray matter decreases in areas associated with response to various social cues.

The brain structure of young mothers changes over the course of about 2 years, according to a study conducted at Leiden University, Holland. Gray matter content is reduced in the areas responsible for responding to social cues. In addition, pregnancy is often accompanied by forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating. But areas related to facial recognition are starting to work more actively.

Using MRI, scientists studied the brains of 25 women before and during pregnancy and found that the amount of gray matter in the brains of pregnant women decreased compared to the pre-pregnancy state. The changes occurred primarily in areas of the brain involved in social tasks, as well as in the hippocampus, a region responsible for memory. The changes were so obvious that it was easy to determine from the pictures whether the woman was pregnant or not.

After 2 years, 11 of the 25 mothers had repeat brain scans, which revealed that hippocampal volume had been restored, but the amount of gray matter was still the same. Using MRI, doctors observed the brain in real time: women looked at photos of their child and other children. In areas lacking gray matter, there was strong neural activity when women saw their own baby, but weaker activity when they saw someone else's. Experts say that reducing the volume of gray matter is necessary so that neural networks become more efficient at recognizing faces.