Scientists have captured one woman’s cognitive evolution into motherhood, taking repeated brain scans over three years to reveal the most detailed picture yet of the dynamic brain changes that unfold over the course of pregnancy.
The emerging evidence suggests that “[mommy brain](https://www.washingtonpost.com/parenting/2023/02/23/mommy-brain-symptoms-benefits/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4)” could be a real thing, but nothing like the pop culture conception of young mothers becoming cognitively fuzzy and absent-minded. Instead, neuroscientists are just beginning to document how hormones drive an intricate, choreographed set of changes that may prepare and hone the brain for parenting.
Key areas in her cortex, the wrinkly outer layer of her brain, shrank and thinned and remained that way long-term, while the superhighways that connect brain regions improved during pregnancy, then returned to baseline after her son was born. The proof-of-concept experiment, published Monday in the journal [Nature Neuroscience](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-024-01741-0), revealed how malleable Chrastil’s brain was on a month-by-month basis.
That’s pretty interesting. I think this should be continued and they could possibly find some information about post-pregnancy mental issues! Fabulous work.
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Scientists have captured one woman’s cognitive evolution into motherhood, taking repeated brain scans over three years to reveal the most detailed picture yet of the dynamic brain changes that unfold over the course of pregnancy.
The emerging evidence suggests that “[mommy brain](https://www.washingtonpost.com/parenting/2023/02/23/mommy-brain-symptoms-benefits/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4)” could be a real thing, but nothing like the pop culture conception of young mothers becoming cognitively fuzzy and absent-minded. Instead, neuroscientists are just beginning to document how hormones drive an intricate, choreographed set of changes that may prepare and hone the brain for parenting.
When neuroscientist Liz Chrastil and her husband were ready to start her family, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to study herself. With a team of collaborators who have also studied the brain during menopause and the menstrual cycle, she slid into the scanner 26 times — before, during and after her pregnancy — providing an unprecedented view of a transformative event in human biology that has long been [overlooked by science](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/long-overlooked-by-science-pregnancy-is-finally-getting-attention-it-deserves/2019/03/06/a29ae9bc-3556-11e9-af5b-b51b7ff322e9_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_5).
Key areas in her cortex, the wrinkly outer layer of her brain, shrank and thinned and remained that way long-term, while the superhighways that connect brain regions improved during pregnancy, then returned to baseline after her son was born. The proof-of-concept experiment, published Monday in the journal [Nature Neuroscience](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-024-01741-0), revealed how malleable Chrastil’s brain was on a month-by-month basis.
Read more here: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2024/09/16/pregnancy-brain-changes-study/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com](https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2024/09/16/pregnancy-brain-changes-study/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com)
That’s pretty interesting. I think this should be continued and they could possibly find some information about post-pregnancy mental issues! Fabulous work.