The arrival of a new baby is life-changing, but it’s not the only transformative outcome of pregnancy. According to a new study, long-term changes to brain structure occur after a woman gives birth.
Researchers from the Netherlands and Spain examined brain scans of 25 first-time mothers, from both before and after pregnancy, as well as the brain scans of 20 women with no children, the Guardian reports.
Their findings, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, showed that the volume of grey matter in certain areas of the brain decreased in women who had been pregnant. It’s thought that these changes last for at least two years after birth.
‘These changes were remarkably consistent,’ said Elseline Hoekzema, co-author of the study from Leiden University. ‘So consistent that a computer algorithm could automatically identify which of the women in our sample had been pregnant between the sessions and which [had] not.’
After exploring these changes, the researchers said they could be down to a woman’s transition into motherhood. ‘Brain changes may sound somewhat intimidating, but our findings suggest that there may be an evolutionary purpose to these changes that may serve you in some way when you become a mother,’ Hoekzema added.
The specific brain regions which showed a drop in grey matter volume are significant too. They are linked to the ability to put others first and imagine how they would think or feel.
As for dads? The study, which compared 19 first-time fathers and 17 men without children, found no evidence of the differences spotted in new mothers’ brains.
