Some parts of the brain go through major changes during pregnancy and only a few regions remain untouched, the first map of the process suggests. MRI scans taken before conception, throughout pregnancy and until two years after childbirth have shed light on how the brain changes. Some of the changes may be permanent, with the brain reorganising itself during pregnancy, experts suggest.
The findings show that some parts of the human brain may shrink in size during pregnancy, but become better connected. A few regions of the brain remain untouched by the transition to motherhood, the study published in Nature Neuroscience suggests. Researchers said the findings, based on brain scans from one mother, may represent one of the first comprehensive maps of changes in the organ before, during and after human pregnancy.
Laura Pritschet, from the University of California, and colleagues analysed the pregnancy-related brain changes of a healthy 38-year-old woman who underwent IVF. They conducted 26 MRI scans and blood tests from three weeks before conception up to two years postpartum. The scans were compared to brain changes in eight people who were not pregnant.
Researchers observed some parts of the brain shrinking in volume and thickness by the ninth week of pregnancy, particularly in a region associated with social cognition. However, they observed increases in other parts of the brain, linked to changes with rising estradiol (oestrogen) and progesterone hormone levels, with some p.