Introducing the brain: pregnancy effects (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, December 01, 2022, 17:19 (723 days ago) @ David Turell

Another supporting study:

https://www.livescience.com/pregnancy-causes-dramatic-changes-in-brain?utm_term=C3CFD69...

"Pregnancy caused women to lose gray matter, and reshaped the brain’s “default mode network,” a set of brain regions that are most active when the mind is wandering.

"A new study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to show dramatic changes in the brain during pregnancy. Pregnancy increased gray matter loss and reshaped the default mode network, which is responsible for the mind wandering and a sense of identity. Pregnancy leads to striking changes in the brain, including alterations in gray matter and regions involved in self-perception, according to a new study.

"The findings suggest that these neurological changes may promote bonding between mother and baby and could play a role in the identity shift that many women feel when they become new mothers, the researchers said.

"'These data provide key insights into the impact of becoming a mother on the human brain and point to pronounced changes in brain structure and function" during pregnancy, the authors wrote in the study, which was published Nov. 22 in the journal Nature Communications."

Comment: reported here in an earlier study. the brain's plasticity exhibited again.
The abstract:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-33884-8?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=...

"While animal studies have demonstrated a unique reproduction-related neuroplasticity, little is known on the effects of pregnancy on the human brain. Here we investigated whether pregnancy is associated with changes to resting state brain activity, white matter microstructure, neural metabolite concentrations and grey matter architecture using a comprehensive pre-conception cohort study. We show that pregnancy leads to selective and robust changes in neural architecture and neural network organization, which are most pronounced in the Default Mode Network. These neural changes correlated with pregnancy hormones, primarily third-trimester estradiol, while no associations were found with other factors such as osmotic effects, stress and sleep. Furthermore, the changes related to measures of maternal-fetal bonding, nesting behavior and the physiological responsiveness to infant cues, and predicted measures of mother-infant bonding and bonding impairments. These findings suggest there are selective pregnancy-related modifications in brain structure and function that may facilitate peripartum maternal processes of key relevance to the mother-infant dyad."