Pregnancy Causes Lasting Changes In A Woman's Brain [STUDY]

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A recent study finds that pregnancy cause long lasting physical changes to a woman's brain, with significant but seemingly beneficial, grey matter loss in parts of the crucial organ.

Some alterations to the brain could last for at least two years, but did not appear to erode memory or other mental processes, the researchers claim.

The changes involves the areas of the brain that are associated with functions which are necessary to manage the challenges of motherhood, the study co-author Erika Barba-Muller of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) said in a statement.

Several studies have been conducted on the radical hormonal surges and physical changes of pregnancy but not much have been discovered about its effect on the brain. The new study, published in Nature Neuroscience, claims to provide the first evidence that pregnancy confers long lasting changes in a woman's brain.

The researchers compared pre and post pregnancy brain scans of 25 first time mothers. The study also looked at the brains of first time fathers, and men and women who do not have children. It discovered a pronounced and long lasting grey matter volume reductions in a woman's brain in pregnancy, in regions involved in social processes.

According to Breitbart, these same regions lit up most on scans which measures the women's responses to their babies in later tests. The brain changes were likely an adaptation for motherhood as it boosts the ability to recognize the needs and emotional state of a baby and easy discovery of potential threats to its health and safety, the researchers said.

Grey matter is a major component of the central nervous system, found in the outer layer of the brain called the cerebral cortex, which enhances the processes of learning and memory, social skills, motor function, language and problem solving.

A UAB statement noted that the researchers did not however, observe any changes in memory or other cognitive functions during the pregnancies and thus believe that the loss of grey matter does not imply any cognitive defects.

According to Yahoo, the study also tested the women up to two years after pregnancy, so it is not clear how long the changes last after two years. The study showed a process called "synaptic pruning", which happens between early childhood and the onset of puberty. It is a process whereby extra neurons and rarely used synaptic connections are eliminated to improve the efficiency of neuronal transmissions.

 The process helps to make way after childhood, for more efficient and specialized synapses and boost the network's overall efficiency. The researchers speculated that a similar process may be at play in pregnancy.