Pregnancy changes mothers' brains

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This is interesting, and relevant to a lot of our discussions about marriage and new motherhood:

scientificamerican.com/article/pregnancy-causes-lasting-changes-in-a-womans-brain/

Some quotes:

“A research team at Autonomous University of Barcelona, led by neuroscientist Elseline Hoekzema of Leiden University, performed brain scans on first-time mothers before and after pregnancy and found significant gray matter changes in brain regions associated with social cognition and theory of mind—the same regions that were activated when women looked at photos of their infants. These changes, which were still present two years after birth, predicted women’s scores on a test of maternal attachment, and were so clear that a computer algorithm could use them to identify which women had been pregnant.”

Whoa!
 
So what about subsequent pregnancies? And is my brain still affected when my youngest is 37?😛
 
katy said:
So what about subsequent pregnancies? And is my brain still affected when my youngest is 37?😛
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Once a mom, always a mom…although I’m sure as with anything in biology, mileage does vary.
 
katy said:
So what about subsequent pregnancies? And is my brain still affected when my youngest is 37?😛
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That is a question.

From what I gather, they last checked the brains at 2 years postpartum, so the effect lasts** at least** that long.
 
katy said:
So what about subsequent pregnancies? And is my brain still affected when my youngest is 37?😛
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As the husband for 43 years of a wonderful woman who was the mother of two and the grandmother of three, I gotta say “yep.” 😃
 
Xantippe said:
This is interesting, and relevant to a lot of our discussions about marriage and new motherhood:

scientificamerican.com/article/pregnancy-causes-lasting-changes-in-a-womans-brain/

Some quotes:

“A research team at Autonomous University of Barcelona, led by neuroscientist Elseline Hoekzema of Leiden University, performed brain scans on first-time mothers before and after pregnancy and found significant gray matter changes in brain regions associated with social cognition and theory of mind—the same regions that were activated when women looked at photos of their infants. These changes, which were still present two years after birth, predicted women’s scores on a test of maternal attachment, and were so clear that a computer algorithm could use them to identify which women had been pregnant.”

Whoa!
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Whoa is right! :eek:
 
Yep. You pretty much know your brain is different once you’re pregnant. This go round, my pregnancy brain hasn’t seemed so acute. I can actually remember some things, and simple mental math isn’t as challenging as during my first pregnancy. I wonder if it’s because my brain has already been somewhat adjusted for it. Pretty crazy stuff.
 
TCEL said:
Yep. You pretty much know your brain is different once you’re pregnant. This go round, my pregnancy brain hasn’t seemed so acute. I can actually remember some things, and simple mental math isn’t as challenging as during my first pregnancy. I wonder if it’s because my brain has already been somewhat adjusted for it. Pretty crazy stuff.
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My last pregnancy, I found it really easy to stay on budget because (believe it or not) I just didn’t have enough energy and mental bandwidth even for Amazon shopping…
 
Maybe it’s just psychological, but as a man I found myself much more tolerant of soiled pants and vomit once we had a child. With time, it gets less and less offensive. Oh, yes, then there is increased tolerance of sleep deprivation. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
 
There was also a study not that long ago that found that women who have been pregnant actually have traces of their children’s DNA in their bodies/brains.
 
RCinMT said:
There was also a study not that long ago that found that women who have been pregnant actually have traces of their children’s DNA in their bodies/brains.
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It makes it make a bit more sense why the church holds Mary in such high regard, when you think of it this way.
 
FrenzyJen said:
It makes it make a bit more sense why the church holds Mary in such high regard, when you think of it this way.
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I know. It’s crazy cool and gives a whole new dimension to Theology of the Body. I’m blown away by it. I know I’m going out on a limb here, but for some reason, the fact that our pre-natal biological stuff still remains in our mothers seems almost Eucharistic to me. Don’t ask me to explain, because I can’t. Maybe because it evokes Jesus’ language of abiding in him in order to have life, or the mutual bodily self-donation. It’s so concrete.
 
Xantippe said:
My last pregnancy, I found it really easy to stay on budget because (believe it or not) I just didn’t have enough energy and mental bandwidth even for Amazon shopping…
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Teehee! 😃

I play online video games with friends during my down time, but when pregnant this last go-round, I actually bowed out of gaming for weeks at a time for similar reasons: the idea of sitting behind a screen and clicking a mouse was just too draining. Sitting on the couch and alternating between dozing and staring blankly into space while my mind wandered sounded far more pleasant…
 
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