Khaberni -Changes in the woman's brain during pregnancy have been a subject of debate for a long time, some support this theory and others deny it. But recently, a new study has proven the changes to a woman's brain during pregnancy, so what are the details of this study? And what changes occur in the pregnant woman's brain? And does it really affect her memory and concentration abilities?
Changes in a woman's brain during pregnancy
Pregnancy is a period of major transformation in a woman's life, as the pregnant body undergoes significant changes to adapt to the fetus and prepare for the next stage, which is breastfeeding and motherhood. The puzzle that was a subject of debate between proof and refutation is the effect of major hormonal fluctuations on the brain during pregnancy, because all previous studies pictured the lady's brain before and after pregnancy, and the brain was not imaged during the pregnancy itself.
In the new study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, researchers at Professor Emily Jacobs's lab at the University of California, shed light on this understudied puzzle by creating the first-ever map of a woman's brain during pregnancy.
During this study, a pregnant woman was selected, and for the first time, researchers imaged her brain every few weeks, starting from the pre-pregnancy period, and continued doing so until two years after birth. At the end of the research, the results revealed changes in the gray matter known as the cerebral cortex, and in the white matter, which consists of bundles of nerve fibers that transmit signals over long distances in the brain and to the body.
Changes in the woman's brain during pregnancy include a decrease in gray matter and an increase in white matter
The most obvious changes found by scientists while imaging the pregnant woman's brain over time are:
A decrease in the volume of brain gray matter, which is the outer part of the brain or the cerebral cortex, a decrease in gray matter volume was noticed with an increase in hormone production during pregnancy. Researchers confirmed that a decrease in gray matter volume is not necessarily a bad or negative thing, but may indicate an adjustment of brain composition or structure that matches the changes the pregnant woman is going through, similar to the same phase teenagers go through as they transition to adulthood, where their brains become more specialized. Pregnancy likely reflects another period of enhancing the brain cortex.
The researchers also found, less obviously but equally importantly, a significant increase in the white matter located deep in the brain and generally responsible for facilitating communication between brain regions. While the reduction in gray matter continued for a long time after birth, the increase in white matter was transient, peaking in the second trimester of pregnancy, and returned to pre-pregnancy levels at the time of birth. This type of effect was not captured during previous studies that focused on imaging the brain before and after pregnancy.
What do these findings imply? And what are the outcomes of changes in a woman's brain during pregnancy?
It was concluded that changes in a woman's brain during pregnancy are real, and these brain changes may support behavioral adaptations associated with parenting, and this matter should not be seen as a specialized research topic, as the results obtained from this line of research will deepen our comprehensive understanding of the human brain, including the aging process.
This will also be a starting point for future studies to understand whether the size or pace of these brain changes carry clues about the risk of women developing postpartum depression, a neurological condition affecting one in every five women. If a correlation between the two conditions is proven, it will be useful to provide the appropriate medications for postpartum depression.
A word from Sahatok website
Changes in a woman's brain during pregnancy have been proven, however, the outcomes that result from these changes have not been specifically understood. Thus, research continues in order to better understand and provide whatever can be offered to support the physical and psychological health of pregnant women.
